The Market Court in Finland has fined Valio 600,000 euros for breaching a condition set for the approval of its acquisition of Heinon Tukku. This penalty was imposed after Valio failed to protect the price information of competing companies as committed.

In 2021, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) granted conditional clearance for Valio's acquisition of Heinon Tukku, a foodservice wholesaler. Valio had committed to safeguarding the confidential information of its competitors to prevent any misuse that could impact competition.

Valio disclosed an error in its information system firewall in late 2022, revealing that its staff had access to competitors' price information for several months. The FCCA, in its proposal to the Market Court, highlighted Valio's non-compliance with the key condition of protecting competitors' price data.

The Market Court agreed with the FCCA's assessment, deeming Valio's breach significant and a serious violation of competition rules. However, the court considered the breach to be somewhat narrower than initially proposed by the FCCA, influencing the amount of the penalty payment.

The Market Court's decision is subject to further review, with the FCCA evaluating whether to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Administrative Court after examining the details of the case.