The UK's antitrust regulator is opposed to the merger and Cargotec and Konecranes are relinquising the merger

"Even if the merger activities suggest that in the future they will face a greater competitive threat in all markets by Chinese suppliers, the CMA has found that this is not the case," the UK antitrust regulator said. sufficient to avoid the significant reduction in competition entwined by the merger of two consolidated key suppliers. This loss of competition could have serious consequences for the UK's port terminals and other customers, including higher prices and lower quality products and services in a wide range of products for handling the container ".

The CMA also clarified that it also assessed the remedies proposed by Cargotec and Konecranes to respond to the concerns of the antitrust authority, which however were not deemed satisfactory, and-making it known that the two companies refused to taking alternative remedies-he concluded that only the ban on the merger could have responded effectively to these concerns.

"The combination of Konecranes and Cargotec, as planned and announced in October 2020," said the president of Konecranes, Christoph Vitzthum, commenting on the CMA verdict-it would have created a company that would have been greater than the sum of its parts. The merger control process has been broad and thorough investigations and the Board of Directors of Konecranes is disappointed that the remedial package offered did not meet the concerns of all the authorities of regulation. At the same time, we believe that further remedies would not have been in the best interests of Konecranes shareholders as they would have changed the strategic logic of the transaction. Konecranes will continue to lead its strategy and pursue the potential for value creation on a stand-alone basis. "

Cargotec's chairman, Ilkka Herlin, also expressed disappointment at the CMA's deliberation-"Cargotec's board of directors has been convinced that the merger would have created substantial value for the entire sector." and for shareholders, improving the flow of sustainable material. The combination would create a strong European company, enabling it to create shared capabilities to speed up innovation without harming competition. We have done everything we can to realize the merger and we are disappointed that our plans should be abandoned. After a long and thorough process of regulatory review and preparations for merger planning, it is time to shift our full focus on the execution of Cargotec's strategy and value creation opportunities. "