Kingspan’s acquisition of Trimo will not proceed, Slovenian report says

Insulation specialist Kingspan has declined to comment on reports its multimillion euro deal to acquire Slovenian company Trimo will not proceed.

Slovenian media reported that the vendor has become frustrated by the process due to difficulties in securing approval from the European Commission.

EU regulators opened an in-depth investigation into the proposed deal last April after an initial inquiry found the two companies compete in the sale of mineral fibre insulation boards in several countries.

The commission expressed concern the deal could hit competition for the panels in the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and the UK, where Kingspan and Trimo would have held significant combined market shares with little competition from rivals.

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Kingspan announced it was buying Trimo – which makes fireproof roofs and metal facades for non-residential buildings – from Polish investment fund Innova Capital in August 2020.

New process

Slovenian business publication Finance said a new sales process to find another buyer for Trimo had begun.

Kingspan declined to comment on the report but sources said it remains keen to close a deal. Trimo, which has operations in Slovenia and Serbia and sells its products in 60 countries, has revenues of about €100 million a year. The business has 10 per cent of the European market for some of its products, making it the second largest player in those businesses.

Shares in Kingspan closed up 4.4 per cent in Dublin yesterday.