Kingspan fined €40m for misleading the EU during its abandoned Trimo merger review

Irish building materials group Kingspan was fined €40m by the European Commission for providing incorrect and misleading information during the merger review of its planned acquisition of Slovenian firm Trimo. Kingspan abandoned the purchase in the face of a commission veto, but the regulator's probe, initiated in 2022, continued into how the company had answered questions during that review. The commission found Kingspan "asserted the non-existence of key documents, misrepresented facts, or claimed the impossibility to provide key information that only Kingspan was in a position to provide."

In 2024 the commission sent a Statement of Objections covering six suspected instances; two were later dropped. The decision concluded on four infringements: misleading information about how Kingspan tracks penetration rates; incorrect information about the availability of 'bidding data' and about board members' involvement in the planned acquisition; and misleading information about R&D for mineral fibre sandwich panels. Each drew a €10m fine. The commission called the breaches serious because they obstructed the investigation and said the breach was at least negligent.

Kingspan had responded in 2024 that the Trimo application was "unusual and uniquely onerous" in both the level of information sought and the fact the process ran during Covid, and that the events were not representative of its long and productive relationship with the commission. It disagreed with the preliminary conclusions but said it would reflect carefully on them while working with legal advisers on its response.

€40m — €10m on each of four infringements of the EU Merger Regulation, announced 8 October 2026

The commission said the misinformation obstructed the merger investigation and made proper review difficult.

Kingspan asserted key documents did not exist and claimed it was impossible to provide information only it held.

The per-instance structure — €10m on each of four infringements — multiplied the penalty.

Two of the six suspected instances were dropped, but the remaining four still sufficed for €40m.

In merger review the information you supply is testimony. Wrong answers about internal organisation, data or R&D draw per-instance fines even after the deal itself is dead.

The fine, announced on 8 October 2026, is the culmination of the probe begun in 2022. The Trimo deal remains abandoned, and the ruling stands as the commission's conclusion that the misinformation was at least negligent.