(Reuters) -Finnish engineering groups Konecranes and Cargotec decided on Tuesday to cancel their planned merger after the United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the transaction, citing competition issues.
The British watchdog decided to block the potential 4.5 billion euro ($5.0 billion) deal earlier on Tuesday.
The merger, which would combine engineering group Konecranes and cargo handling machinery maker Carogtec, would harm competition in the supply of container handling equipment products, the CMA said.
“UK customers would have few remaining alternative suppliers after the merger,” the regulator added in its statement.
The boards of directors of Konecranes and Cargotec did not find any satisfactory solution which would have addressed the concerns of the CMA, the companies said in a statement. Both groups will continue as fully independent entities, they added.
The companies won European Commission antitrust clearance for the deal in February. However, the transaction required approval from all relevant authorities, including CMA, the companies said.
($1 = 0.9081 euros)
(Reporting by Boleslaw Lasocki; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
