The Competition Authority has recently received notification of the acquisition by Síldarvinnslan hf. of a 50% stake in Ice Fresh Seafood ehf. etc. from Samherji hf. With this acquisition, the seafood companies will jointly control Ice Fresh Seafood, and that company will henceforth handle the sale and marketing of the products manufactured by both Samherji and Síldarvinnslan, i.e. Icelandic seafood products.
The Competition Authority has previously addressed the relationship between Síldarvinnslan and Samherji, including in its decisions. No. 2/2021 and 28/2022 where considerable management, ownership and business connections are detailed between Síldarvinnslan and Samherji, together with Gjögur hf./Kjálkanes hf. These matters have been considered to indicate that control of Síldarvinnslan may have arisen, beyond what has previously been disclosed in notifications to the Competition Authority. However, it has not been considered necessary to conclude this in previous merger cases.
Notifiable mergers take place under competition law when there are changes in control. One of the matters requiring further investigation in this case is the relationship between Samherji and Síldarvinnslan, both before and after the merger, including the impact of Síldarvinnslan's acquisition and its joint control with Samherji in Ice Fresh Seafood in this context.
It will therefore be a matter for specific consideration whether such a relationship exists, or is being created by the acquisition, that the companies should be regarded as a single enterprise (in competition law, referred to as a single economic unit), i.e.i.e. whether their relationship is so close as to amount to a single economic unit and not a collaboration between independent competitors.
Further information about the merger can be found here in the so-called merger register.
The Competition Authority hereby gives any person with an interest or concern the opportunity to submit comments, observations and/or views on the transaction, such as regarding the ownership and management links between these undertakings, whether they can be regarded as a single economic unit for the purposes of competition law, the effects of the merger, the state of the markets and the effectiveness of competition in the relevant markets.
Reviews should be submitted by gogn@samkeppni.is no later than Thursday, 7 March 2024.
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