THE Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced it is cancelling its Phase 2 merger investigation after Kingspan abandoned its proposed deal with Building Solutions.
Kingspan provides standard foam sandwich panels, which are commonly used as insulated cladding on commercial and industrial buildings. Building Solutions also sells a range of insulation and specialist construction products through a variety of businesses, including Steadmans, Trimform, Advanced Cladding and United Roofing Products.
After completing its initial Phase 1 investigation in April 2020, the CMA found that the proposed deal could result in customers facing ‘higher prices or lower quality products’. It found that Kingspan and Building Solutions are two of only three key suppliers of standard foam sandwich panels in the UK and would only face serious competition from one other UK-based supplier – Tata Steel – after the deal.
The CMA had moved to an in-depth, ‘Phase 2’, review after but will now be cancelling its investigation after the deal was abandoned.
