District heating
Slovakia
Joint control — cleared, final
9 Sep 2026
EIF and HBz take joint control of four Slovak district heating companies
Slovakia's Antimonopoly Office approved on 7 September 2026 a concentration under which EIF, a.s. of Bratislava and HBz., a.s. of Prievidza acquire joint control over the businesses of TeHo Bardejov, s.r.o. and BARDENERGY, s.r.o., both of Bardejov, and TeHo Topoľčany, s.r.o. and TOMA, s. r. o., both of Topoľčany, through the company TEHO INVEST, a.s. of Bratislava. After assessing the concentration the office concluded that it does not raise concerns about a distortion of competition. The decision became final on 9 September 2026. No price, revenue or employee figures appear in the announcement.
Our take
Two investors, one jointly owned vehicle, four municipal-scale heating companies in two towns. This is the standard shape of infrastructure consolidation in the region: the assets are small individually, geographically fixed and regulated on returns, so buyers aggregate them to make the overhead and the financing work. For a buyer assembling such a portfolio, the price it can pay for a single asset depends on how well that company fits the set it is building rather than on its standalone earnings. It is also worth noting the vehicle structure. When two investors buy through a jointly controlled company, the shareholders' agreement between them is doing most of the work — and a seller staying on with a minority stake would be governed by that same document.