On Friday, 10th January, Styrkás hf. and Kraftur ehf. withdrew their merger notification to the Competition Authority regarding the merger of the companies, as Styrkás already owns, among others, the company Klett sölu og þjónustu ehf. Upon the withdrawal of the notification, the Competition Authority's investigation into the merger is automatically discontinued.
The Competition Authority has now published a short decision on the outcome of the case, which outlines, among other things, the main subject of the investigation and the handling of the case. The decision is available here.
From the merger parties' press release to the media about the withdrawal of the merger, it can be inferred that the main reason for it was that the Competition Authority had not agreed to the merger parties' market definitions which, according to them, were supported by the practice of the European Commission and the competitionpinnish authorities in the Nordic countries.
It is worth noting in this regard that the above-mentioned explanations from the merging parties are not entirely consistent with the explanations provided to the competition authority. The merging parties requested confidentiality regarding them. It is also necessary to state that, during its investigation of the case, the Competition Authority had not taken a position on the market definitions in the matter, but the investigation was conducted with due regard to the parties' views in the merger notification and to existing case-law from European law.
On the other hand, the investigation had revealed that the merger parties are collectively the largest importers of lorries in the country. The company Klettur sala og þjónusta, owned by Styrkur, is the main dealer for Scania lorries in Iceland and operates a related workshop along with other activities, while Kraftur sells, among other things, MAN lorries and other commercial vehicles and operates a related workshop.
This is a significant business activity and, according to the Competition Authority's preliminary assessment, its total value appears to be around 14 billion kr. per year. This does not include repair or maintenance services, the sale of spare parts or fitted equipment for lorries, other services or product sales provided by Styrkás / Klettur and Kraftur, or related activities within the Styrkás and Skeljar fjárfestingafélags group. Commentators expressed concerns about the size of the Styrkás group and that the merger could create a dominant market position.
During the investigation, the Competition Authority gathered detailed data and submissions from market players, as well as information from the merging parties themselves. The Authority would like to thank the companies in the relevant markets for the work and data they contributed to the investigation.
For all other matters, reference is made to Decision No. 2/2025 .
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