The European Commission has conditionally approved the planned merger between Konecranes and Cargotec, after investigation and consultation with market participants across Europe.
Konecranes’ Lift Truck business includes its business for the manufacturing and commercialisation of reach stackers, full and empty container handlers, as well as forklift trucks, with manufacturing plants in Sweden and China, and contracts with distributors.
Cargotec’s Kalmar Automation Solutions business consists of its full cranes and straddle/shuttle carrier business, including Kalmar’s manufacturing plant in Poland and a licence for use of Cargotec’s Kalmar brand for the divested product categories.
The divestitures would eliminate overlaps between the parties’ container handling equipment businesses but allow the combined company to combine other businesses and continue to be a strong player in all aspects of container handling equipment.
The completion of the merger remains subject to further feedback and approvals from various other competition authorities, among others the Department of Justice of the United States and the Competition and Markets Authority of the United Kingdom. These authorities continue to review the merger based on their own processes and assessments of the competitive effects of the combination.
The two companies are in continued dialogue with the relevant competition authorities, and until all merger closing conditions are met and the transaction completed, both of them will continue to operate “fully separately and independently.”
