COMPETITION COUNCIL OBLIGED AS EESTI MEEDIA TO SUBMIT MERGER NOTIFICATION

On 23 July, the Competition Council initiated merger control procedure where the authority will examine indirect acquisition of the company‘s AllePal OÜ control. The Council obliged the acquiring party AS Eesti Meedia to submit merger notification.

On 17 December 2014, AS Eesti Meedia informed the Council about its subsidiary‘s OÜ Classify acquisition of 100 per cent of AllePal OÜ shares. Since the turnovers indicated by the companies did not exceed certain thresholds, merger clearance was not required. Having completed the merger, the companies in control of classified ads websites aruodas.lt, autogidas.lt, autoplius.lt, domusplius.lt and others became associated undertakings.

However, the possible impact of the merger to competition raised doubts to the Council‘s experts and other market participants. Hence, the Council‘s experts surveyed market participants and examined the activity of classified ads websites. According to the Council‘s preliminary evaluation, the merger may have created or strengthened the dominant position, or significantly restricted competition in the relevant market. Having received AS Eesti Meedia merger notification, the Council will evaluate whether this merger does not create negative consequences for market participants and consumers.