Merger of Horn III slhf. and Lífland ehf.

The Icelandic Competition Authority (ICA) has reviewed the acquisition by Horn III slhf of Lífland. Lífland is a company which operates on various markets that are related to agriculture and food production. The company operates on the production-, wholesale- and retail stage. Their largest subsidiaries' are Kornax mjöl and Nesbúegg. These companies produce and sell flour and eggs. Horn III is a private equity fund that has investments in various domestic companies. It was founded by Landsbréf which is the fund management arm of Landsbankinn. Landsbankinn is one of three large commercial and investments banks in Iceland.  

After investigating the merger and assessing information on the markets involved it is ICA‘s result that the merger will not cause increased concentration in any of the markets involved. However the ICA has imposed conditions in the case that are intended to ensure the commercial independence of Lífland and its subsidaries towards Landsbankinn. There are effective conditions in place that are ensure the commercial independence of Landsbréf and Horn III towards Landsbankinn. These conditions were put in place in case no. 26/2016 when Horn III bought Basko. The result of this investigation are that the imposed conditions are sufficient to hinder the competition problem that otherwise would have arisen from this merger.