IP/07/1219
Brussels, 7th August 2007
Mergers: Commission clears proposed acquisition of joint control of Infocare and Powermill by Segulah and Capman
The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of joint control by Jersey-based Segulah and Finland-based CapMan over the combined activities of Infocare (Norway) and Powermill (Sweden), two companies active in the provision of maintenance services to IT and consumer electronics products (CE) in the Nordic area. The Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.
Segulah and Capman are both private equity firms. Infocare is a provider of installation and repair services of IT, office software and consumer electronics (CE, e.g. audio and video appliances also known as "brown goods"). Infocare is active in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway. Powermill is a provider of maintenance, repair and logistics services in the field of IT, telecom, consumer electronics and white goods (e.g. freezers, washing machines, dish washers, etc.) appliances. It is active in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Estonia.
The Commission’s examination of the proposed transaction showed that
the horizontal overlaps stemming from the merger would be limited given the
different business focus of Infocare (IT-related repair services) compared to
Powermill (repair of CE products, "brown goods"). As regards maintenance
services of brown goods, the overlaps were slightly more pronounced in Sweden
and Denmark, but the Commission's investigation showed that customers of these
repair services (large retailers and OEM, Original Equipment manufacturers)
would be able to offset any potential adverse effects of the proposed merger in
those two countries.
More information on the case will be available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/mergers/cases/index/m94.html#m_4727
