Spain’s competition authority, the CNMC, has approved Oximesa’s acquisition of sole control over Esteve Teijin Healthcare, subject to binding commitments designed to address competition concerns in the market for home respiratory therapies.
The transaction raised significant issues after an in-depth, second-phase investigation. The CNMC found that the deal would eliminate Esteve Teijin, the only operator capable of exerting meaningful competitive pressure on the two largest players in the market, Oximesa and Air Liquide. Esteve Teijin was considered a particularly important competitor due to its technical capacity and innovation in a sector characterised by limited competitive pressure.
According to the authority, the acquisition would further increase market concentration and strengthen Oximesa’s position, altering the structure of a market that is largely organised through public tenders, which account for around 94% of demand. The CNMC also identified an increased risk of coordinated behaviour among the main operators in what it described as a transparent and highly structured market.
The authority concluded that the disappearance of Esteve Teijin would reduce Oximesa’s incentives to maintain aggressive pricing, potentially leading to higher prices. While the continued presence of Air Liquide would provide some constraint, the CNMC highlighted a particular risk of reduced quality and innovation across the market following the transaction.
To address these concerns, Oximesa offered a package of commitments. These include reinvesting cost savings generated by the merger into improving service quality and innovation, benchmarking the quality levels of Oximesa and Esteve Teijin and raising standards where necessary, and capping price increases for home respiratory therapy services to inflation (CPI) for a period of three years.
The CNMC concluded that these commitments are sufficient to remedy the identified competition risks and approved the transaction subject to their full implementation.