Merger between Valio & Heinon Tukku is approved

On 30 June 2021, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) approved the transaction in which Valio Oy acquired Heinon Tukku Oy. With the transaction, Valio becomes an even more comprehensive partner for food industry professionals.

“We are pleased with the FCCA’s decision. Going forward, we will be a more comprehensive partner to those food industry professionals for whom quality, a deep understanding of customer needs, and delivery reliability are key factors. Heinon Tukku is a traditional family-owned company, and Valio is owned by Finnish dairy farmers. We share a similar set of values,” says Valio’s Tuomas Sorri, who will head the new business unit created through the transaction.

The FCCA investigated the competition impacts of the Valio and Heinon Tukku transaction. The transaction involves the merger of a manufacturer and a wholesaler. Based on the FCCA’s investigation, the merger will not lead to the market exclusion of Valio’s or Heinon Tukku’s competitors. A condition of the merger approval is that Valio must commit to protecting the sensitive information of competitors it receives due to the transaction so that it isn’t transmitted in the organization in a manner that is detrimental to competition.

“It is common that the implementation of a business merger is subject to certain conditions. We will act in the manner required by the FCCA’s decision,” notes Sorri.

Petri Heino, chief executive officer of Tukkuheino Oy, shares his sentiments, “I especially want to thank all Heinon Tukku employees and partners for the good collaboration, which in many cases has spanned multiple decades. Heinon Tukku has terrific employees, and through our shared years, we have had so many great encounters with customers and other stakeholders. It is with the bittersweetness but complete confidence that we now hand Heinon Tukku’s reins over to Valio.”

“Our family-owned company has three centuries of experience in the food industry, and we will remain in the food and beverage business. Our 120-year story will now live on in a new format. Heinon Tukku has been our group’s biggest, most prominent, and most well-known company, but we are retaining our ownership of Kalavapriikki, Uniq Drinks Finland, and Anton & Anton. Going forward, we want to put more focus on the development of these companies,” adds Heino.

Growth in eating out is a factor

The backdrop of the transaction is the eating out and takeaway trend, which is expected to return to growth after the coronavirus pandemic eases.

In the future, Valio will be a single-source supplier of everything a professional kitchen needs: in addition to an extensive selection of raw materials, support in product development, and in creating meal and snack concepts.

Heinon Tukku has a portfolio of thousands of products – from fresh vegetables to napkins – and its customers are restaurants and coffee shops, particularly in the Helsinki metropolitan area. Valio has the country’s most extensive distribution network and particularly public sector customers.