Insulation maker Kingspan faces a €40 million fine for misleading European Commission competition regulators during their investigation of its bid for Slovenian rival, Trimo.
Kingspan ultimately dropped plans to buy the roofing and insulation materials manufacturer in 2022. The planned transaction had triggered a commission investigation into the deal’s potential impact on competition in several insulation panel markets.
The Commission has now fined Kingspan €40 million for providing “incorrect and misleading information” to its review of the Irish group’s bid for Trimo in 2021, a statement said on Thursday.
The Co Cavan-based multinational said it would appeal the ruling.
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Kingspan misled the commission on how it tracks the use of mineral fibre sandwich boards, the insulation product made by both companies, against other insulation materials, the statement noted.
The Irish group provided incorrect or misleading information about the availability of bidding data, generally used to assess the competitiveness of a given industry, the Commission said.
It also provided incorrect or misleading information on research and development carried out by Kingspan into mineral fibre sandwich panels.
“This kind of information, which usually only the company itself can provide, is key to understanding a company’s position in the relevant market,” said the commission.
In addition, Kingspan gave incorrect or misleading information about its board members’ involvement in the planned acquisition of Trimo, other deals considered by Kingspan and industry trends and strategy, the commission added.
Kingspan gave the incorrect or misleading information to the commission in either its notification of the proposed acquisition of Trimo or in replies to requests for information under EU merger rules, according to the statement.
The commission has fined Kingspan €10 million for each of the four breaches of merger regulations that it identified.
The EU executive body said it considered Kingspan’s infringements serious as they obstructed the mergers investigation, making it difficult for the commission to properly review the transaction.
“It also considers that Kingspan could not have been unaware of its obligations under the EU merger regulation, meaning that the breach was at least negligent,” the commission said.
“In particular, the commission found that Kingspan asserted the non-existence of key documents, misrepresented facts, or claimed the impossibility to provide key information that only Kingspan was in a position to provide,” it added.
Kingspan responded that it noted the commission’s decision regarding a deal that it ultimately decided not to pursue.
“We look forward to appealing the decision in full,” the Irish group said.
Kingspan did not comment beyond that. But when the commission first questioned the information the company provided to the mergers investigation in March 2024, the group said that it had fully co-operated with the European authorities throughout the Trimo bid.
“This Trimo application was unusual and uniquely onerous given both the level of information sought and the fact that the process occurred during Covid,” Kingspan noted at the time.
“It is in no way representative of the long and productive relationship that Kingspan has with the European Commission.”
Kingspan pointed out that, by March 2024, the Commission had approved four other acquisitions completed by the Irish group since 2020 when it first bid for Trimo.
The European Commission routinely investigates mergers across member states to assess their potential impact on goods and services.
