Hungary’s Competition Office (GVH) said on Monday that it will launch a detailed two-phase investigation of Austrian construction company Strabag’s acquisition of the Hungarian and Austrian units of Mexican cement company Cemex.
GVH said that preliminary investigation found that both the individual and combined market shares of Strabag and Cemex surpass the critical limit in the case of at least one product in Hungary, while the merger would increase market concentration in several geographical regions.
Cemex announced in July that it would sell its units in Hungary and Austria to Strabag for EUR 310m.
Strabag, which has an important position on the Hungarian construction market, had asked the Hungarian and the Austrian competition authorities to review the deal as it affects mainly these two markets.
Cemex’s Hungarian unit, Cemex Hungaria, is the second largest concrete company on the Hungarian market. The unit, which employs 800 people, generated revenue of HUF 61m last year.