THE COMPANY KAUNO LIFTAI WILL BE ABLE TO CARRY OUT THE MERGER
The Competition Council has allowed Kauno Liftai to carry out the concentration after acquiring 100% of the shares of Baltijos Liftai and Šiaulių Liftas companies. The clearance was granted following a commitment by Kauno Liftai to divest part of its business and thus restore effective competition in the market for maintenance and repair of lifting equipment in Lithuania.
In July 2022, the Competition Council decided to initiate the merger review procedure ex officio and obliged Kauno liftai to submit a notification regarding the transaction that took place in May 2021, where it acquired 100% of the shares of Baltijos liftai and Šiaulių liftas. Since the combined total revenue of these companies did not exceed the threshold of 20 million Euros in 2020, as specified in the Law on Competition, Kauno liftai was not obligated to notify and obtain permission from the Competition Council for the intended merger.
After evaluating the notification received on October 26, 2022, the Authority determined that the transaction resulted in the creation or strengthening of a dominant position or significant restriction of competition in the markets of technical maintenance and repair of elevators in Vilnius, Kaunas, Panevėžys, and Utena counties, as well as elevator replacement market in Vilnius County. The negative impact of the concentration on the market for maintenance and repair of lifting equipment in Vilnius County has been identified based on the assessment of, among other things, the position of the parties to the merger in the segments for the maintenance and repair of elevators older than 25 years old and of elevators that are not installed by the parties.
In response to the conclusions made by the Authority, Kauno Liftai submitted commitments to the Competition Council proposing to divest the contracts for the maintenance and/or repair of lifting equipment in the relevant districts of Panevėžys, Utena and Kaunas, which the company had acquired after the merger. Kauno Liftai has also agreed to divest the maintenance and replacement of its elevators which are older than 25 years and not installed by the company in Vilnius County.
Having concluded that the proper and timely implementation of the commitments will eliminate the negative effects on competition identified by the Authority, the Competition Council granted clearance for the merger.
The decision may be appealed to the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court within one month from the date of its delivery or publication on the Competition Council's website.
