Brussels, Belgium 26 February 2014 -- Commission says the companies provided misleading market information in their merger case.

The European Commission has sent a Statement of Objections to Ahlstrom Corporation, Munksjö Oyj, both of Finland, and Munksjö AB of Sweden. In October 2012 Ahlstrom and Munksjö, both producers of speciality papers, had notified the Commission of plans to combine their activities in the production of abrasive paper backings. The Commission takes the preliminary view, that the parties provided misleading information with regard to the market for abrasive paper backings. Such behaviour, if established, would be in breach of the companies' obligation to include their true best estimates of the markets in question in the notification and could result in a fine of up to 1% of turnover.

In January 2013, the companies supplied internal documents, which indicate that they estimate the size of the markets for abrasive paper backings and the heavy-weight sub-segment, both with regard to sales in the European Economic Area (EEA) and on a worldwide level, to be significantly lower and, consequently, their own market share significantly higher than what they had stated in the notification.

If the Commission finds that the parties provided at least negligently misleading information, it can impose a fine of up to 1% of the annual worldwide turnover of the companies concerned.