EU antitrust regulators have opened a full-scale investigation into Cavan based insulation maker Kingspan's proposed acquisition of Slovenian rival Trimo, concerned that the deal may reduce competition and push up prices.
The European Commission said the deal, announced in August last year, could significantly reduce competition for mineral fibre sandwich panels in the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and the UK, as both companies are direct rivals.
"Together, Kingspan and Trimo would be by far the largest player in Europe and the main supplier of high quality mineral fibre sandwich panels," European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
"These products are important for a better insulation and energy efficiency of industrial and commercial buildings, which are key to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal."
"We need to ensure a healthy competitive landscape for all the businesses relying on these products to insulate their buildings."
The EU competition watchdog set an August 20 for its decision.
Trimo is owned by private equity firm Innova Capital.
Separately, Kingspan said today that it has met the goal it set in 2011 to achieve Net Zero Energy by 20201, the first leg of its journey to decarbonise.
The firm today published its inaugural "Planet Passionate" Sustainability Report, reviewing the first year of progress in the 10-year strategy it launched at the end of 2019.
The report outlines the company's decarbonisation programme, which targets a reduction in manufacturing carbon (CO2e) emissions to as close to zero as technically possible, together with halving carbon intensity in its primary supply chain.
Planet Passionate is made up of 12 targets, addressing the impact of Kingspan's business operations and manufacturing on four key areas of energy, carbon, circularity and water.
Kingspan last year reduced emissions from operations by 5.2%, a first step towards net zero carbon manufacturing by 2030 with the intention of reducing absolute emissions to the lowest possible level.
This will require transformation of the company's processes across its existing 166 manufacturing sites while supporting newly acquired businesses to decarbonise as quickly as possible.
Kingspan has also committed by 2030 to reduce the carbon intensity of its primary raw materials by 50%.
This will reduce the embodied carbon in its products and further enhance the significant carbon savings that Kingspan products already deliver by reducing energy consumption in buildings.
Insulation products sold by Kingspan last year will save an estimated 164 million tonnes of CO2 over their lifetime.
Kingspan also issued the largest ever corporate Green Private Placement to raise €750m last September which will be used to support its mission of accelerating a net-zero-emissions built environment with advanced insulation and building envelope solutions.
The company also raised a further €50m Green Loan to fund specific Planet Passionate initiatives.
Gene Murtagh, CEO of Kingspan, said the company's Planet Passionate targets demand radical thinking and action.
"Our aim is to get as close to zero emissions in our manufacturing as technically possible by transforming our processes. Industry has a vital role to play in addressing the threat of climate change, and we are proud to have achieved a 5.2% reduction in our carbon emissions in the first year of this plan," Mr Murtagh said.
"Our target of halving the carbon intensity of primary raw materials used in our supply chain will also lower the embodied carbon in our products, and consequently the whole life carbon of buildings," he added.
Bianca Wong, Global Head of Sustainability at Kingspan, said that the company in 2011 set an incredibly ambitious target for its global operations to achieve Net Zero Energy by 2020.
"We have delivered this as a first major milestone in our Planet Passionate plan. This programme helped build essential knowledge, structures and commitment within the business, which are all critical to achieving the next phase of our decarbonisation journey by 2030," Ms Wong said.
