European Commission issued UPM and Sappi a Letter of Facts regarding concerns about its new Joint Venture
UPM and South Africa-listed Sappi have offered to modify their production capacities as part of remedies aimed at securing EU antitrust approval for their €1.42 billion ($1.6 billion) paper joint venture.
The remedies come after the European Commission sent a Letter of Facts to the companies in response to their Joint Venture, which would create the biggest player in Europe.
The companies submitted their offer to the European Commission, the EU competition enforcer, on Wednesday, according to a filing on its website. The offer led the regulator to extend its decision deadline to January 8.
On Thursday November 5, the companies issued a joint statement stating the remedies include “capacity optimisation for the supply of certain paper grades in Europe” and “certain commercial safeguards for customers, and investments in decarbonisation, electrification and energy efficiency”.
The Commission usually seeks feedback from rivals and customers on concessions to address competition concerns before deciding whether to accept them or demand more.
The EU antitrust enforcer has said that the deal may restrict competition in the markets for different types of communication paper used for magazines and books.
