Fuente: © European Union
http://europa.eu.int

EU:Mergers: Commission clears joint venture, between UPM-Kymmene RUS Holdings Oy and B.R.I.S.T. Limited, in the Vologda region of Russia

/noticias.info/ The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed creation by Finnish UPM-Kymmene Corporation (UPM) and B.R.I.S.T. Limited of Malta (BRIST), of a new joint venture operation, in which each will have a 50% equity interest. The joint venture is to produce sawn timber, OSB and pulp in the Vologda region of Russia, as of 2010 – 2012.

UPM is a global forest products group with core businesses in printing papers, specialty papers, label materials and wood products.

BRIST is a holding company ultimately controlled by a Russian entrepreneur who controls a number of businesses in, among other areas, wood processing.

The joint venture will construct and operate mills for the production of sawn timber, pulp and a type of wood-based panel board product, OSB panels (oriented strand board). It will then trade these products on wholesale markets.

The activities of the joint venture overlap horizontally with those of UPM and BRIST in the market for wood-based panel board products and with those of UPM only in the markets for sawn timber and pulp. In all cases, the combined current and likely future market shares are and will remain well below 15%. There also is a vertical link between UPM's activities in paper business, in particular, the wood-containing magazine paper market and the joint venture's activities in the upstream market for the production of pulp. The Commission however concluded that this would not create competition concerns, as pulp has a wider application than wood-containing magazine paper. Consequently, there would remain a sufficiently large customer base for other pulp producers.

More information on the case will be available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/mergers/cases/index/m103.html#m_5150 notas_de_prensa_archivo