Kingspan hit with €40 million EU fine for misleading data on Slovenian deal

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Irish building materials maker Kingspan was fined €40 million ($44.7 million) for providing incorrect and misleading information during an investigation into its abandoned acquisition of a Slovenian rival, EU antitrust regulators said on Thursday.

The sanction followed a four-year investigation by the European Commission, which is the European Union competition enforcer, and underscores its tough policy against such infringements of EU merger rules.

Kingspan said it would challenge the EU fine.

"We look forward to appealing the decision in full," the company said in an email. 

EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said companies must adhere to merger rules.

"When companies withhold or distort the truth, they undermine a system that protects fair competition for everyone. There can be no compromise on disclosure and transparency. If they fail to do so, we do and will act firmly," she said in a statement.

Kingspan announced its plan to acquire Trimo in 2021 but scrapped the deal in April 2022 after the EU antitrust watchdog warned that the acquisition could jack up prices and reduce quality.

The Commission subsequently opened an investigation in November 2022 to examine whether Kingspan had provided incorrect and misleading information.

Its Thursday decision said the company provided misleading information about how it tracks penetration rates for mineral fibre sandwich panels and the availability of bidding data, as well as incorrect information about board members' involvement in certain matters.

Such breaches can cost companies fines up to 1% of their total global turnover.

($1 = 0.8940 euros)

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Inti Landauro and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)