Norwegian wants to buy Widerøe, but has received a preliminary no from the Norwegian Competition Authority. They are now reacting strongly to that, the company writes in a stock exchange announcement. – Norwegian strongly disagrees with the Norwegian Competition Authority’s preliminary assessment, and has today submitted a thorough reply. Norwegian is also disappointed that the majority of the documentation that has been given to the authority, both in writing and during meetings, has not been taken into account. It was E24 that first reported the news. The Norwegian Competition Authority has so far assessed that the acquisition will make Norwegian too large compared to its competitors. It was this summer that Norwegian Group put NOK 1.1 billion on the table to buy Widerøe. Widerøe will retain the brand and the head office will be located in Bodø. But the Norwegian Competition Authority must approve the acquisition before it can become a reality. Today, Norwegian has announced that they will hold a press conference about their reactions. Believes documentation has not been taken into account The company writes in the press release that they are surprised and disappointed that large amounts of documentation presented to the Norwegian Competition Authority have not been taken into account. Norwegian believes there is no documentation that the acquisition will prevent effective competition. – The most important thing for us has been to show that an acquisition, contrary to what the Norwegian Competition Authority assumes, will be positive for competition in the Norwegian domestic market, says Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian. Widerøe CEO Stein Nilsen and Norwegian CEO Geir Karlsen met this autumn in Bodø. Photo: Helge Lyngmoe / Helge Lyngmoe In extensive material, the airline presents further documentation that competition is strengthened by the implementation of the agreement, they themselves write in the press release. The company says that close to 3,000 documents have been presented in the five months the proceedings have been ongoing. But that Norwegian’s documentation has not been sufficiently taken into account. Norwegian’s CEO says they have received many statements of support that believe an acquisition of Widerøe will strengthen Norwegian aviation. – We have received good support from customers, from employees in Widerøe and local elected officials, not least in Northern Norway. That the main competitor in Scandinavia is negative is as expected. The important thing is that the Norwegian Competition Authority makes an independent assessment, says Karlsen. The companies believe that they complement each other Norwegian believes that they and Widerøe ike are in a real competitive situation, and that they have overlapping offers on only two of their total of 400 routes. – Reduced costs and increased efficiency will benefit customers in the form of a better offer, says Karlsen.
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Norwegian reacts to the Competition Authority’s no to the Widerøe purchase – news Nordland
