April 2 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's Commission for Protection of Competition said that it has granted approval to paper and cardboard packaging company Smurfit Kappa Europe, part of London-listed Smurfit Kappa Group, to acquire Bulgarian peer Vitavel.
The combined market share of Smurfit Kappa Group's local units and Vitavel on the Bulgarian corrugated fiberboard and corrugated fiberboard packaging markets does not exceed 15%, and is not expected to negatively affect competition, the anti-trust authority said in its decision, published on Monday.
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Vitavel is majority owned by Bulgaria's Vitavel Invest, which holds an 84.73% stake. The company booked revenue of 13.9 million levs ($8 million/7.1 million euro) from operations in the country in 2017.
Smurfit Kappa Group operates in Bulgaria through its local units Balkanpack and Elzem Bulgaria, as well as its Serbian subsidiary Fabrika Hartije. The group generated revenue of 23 million levs from operations in Bulgaria in 2017.
Smurfit Kappa Group operates in 21 countries in Europe and 12 countries in North and South America.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)