The investigation concluded there are no competition concerns “as the market share increments are modest, the switching costs for customers are low, and customers will continue to have an adequate number of alternative suppliers in all relevant markets,” the Commission says in a document obtained by Kallanish.
In February, Swiss Steel signed an agreement for the sale of several distribution subsidiaries to Jacquet Metals, a distributor of specialty metals. The transaction includes Swiss Steel s.r.o in the Czech Republic, Swiss Steel Baltic OÜ in Estonia, Swiss Steel Magyarorszag Kft in Hungary, Swiss Steel Baltic SIA in Latvia, Swiss Steel Baltic, UAB in Lithuania, Swiss Steel Polska in Poland and Swiss Steel Slovakia, belonging to the Swiss Steel group.
Together, these generated total net revenue of €158 million ($166m) and Ebitda of €12m in 2022, with 267 employees, by selling mostly non-Swiss Steel products.
This is the second significant agreement between Swiss Steel and Jacques Metals, following the sale of distribution entities in Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands in 2015 (see Kallanish passim).
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