COMPETITION COUNCIL SUSPECTS LINDO OF HAVING IMPLEMENTED A NON-NOTIFIED ACQUISITION

Competition Council completed an investigation into a non-notified acquisition of 100 per cent of Kauno skalbykla and Aglaja shares by Lindo (further - the Company).

The Council‘s experts found that the Company notified the Council about the aforementioned acquisition five months after it was completed. Though having examined the notification, the Council cleared the acquisition, Lindo, nevertheless, had completed a non-notified acquisition and, thus, breached the Law on Competition. For the breach, the Council suggests to impose a sanction foreseen in Article 36 Section 1 of the Law on Competition.  

„I would like to note that merger notification is not just a formality. Market changes caused by mergers may restrict competition and, thus, have negative consequences for consumers. For instance, prices may rise due to smaller number of market participant and weaker competition within certain sector. Therefore, a merger can only be implemented after receiving the Council‘s clearance“-says Šarūnas Keserauskas, the Chairman of the Competition Council.