By decision No. 34/2011, The Competition Authority annulled Landsbankinn hf.'s acquisition of a stake in Verdis hf. (formerly Arion Securities Depository). The merger would have resulted in Landsbankinn and Arion bank jointly exercising control over Verdis, which is a dominant company in the securities depository market. The merger was considered to seriously harm competition.
The merger parties appealed the decision of the Competition Authority to the Competition Appeals Board. With ruling, dated 16 February, the Appeals Board has annulled the decision. The Appeals Board does not rule on the merits of the case in its decision but directs the Competition Authority to reconsider whether it is possible to impose conditions on the merger. The appeal board concludes that the appellants had reasonable grounds to believe that the procedure initiated to attempt to impose acceptable conditions on the merger had not been concluded at the time the decision was taken.
The Competition Authority is asked to grant the appellants a short deadline to submit final proposals for the conditions for the merger on their part, based on the objectives which the Competition Authority considers must be achieved to satisfy the required competition remedies.
It is therefore for the Competition Authority to reconsider the matter in accordance with the decision of the appeals board.
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