COMPETITION COUNCIL TERMINTATES MERGER EXAMINATION WITHIN BOOKSELLING SECTOR

UAB AL holdingas dropped its intentions to acquire UAB Humanitas shares and therefore the Competition Council (Council) terminated the examination of merger notification by UAB AL holdingas whereby the latter intended to acquire up to 100 per cent of UAB Humanitas shares.  

Major activity of UAB AL holdingas is corporate governance. The undertaking belongs to a group of related companies (AL group) connecting two publishing houses Alma littera and Šviesa, a bookshop network Pegasas,which controls UAB ALG bookshops, and other companies.

UAB Humanitas imports and distributes academic and professional books in Lithuania.

Having carried out a preliminary evaluation of the intended merger, the Council determined that this merger may create or strengthen a dominant position and, thus, significantly restrict competition within the national market of foreign language teaching materials and the market of retail trade of books in Vilnius and Kaunas. The decision was based on the presumption that once the merger was implemented an independent and sufficiently strong competitor of Al group, i.e. UAB Humanitas, would cease to exist.

Notes:

(1) Mergers (Concentrations) are cases when two independent undertakings merge or when one undertaking gains control over another.

(2) Control means any rights arising from laws or transactions that entitle a legal or natural person to exert a decisive influence on the activity of an undertaking.

(3) If the combined aggregate income of the merging parties exceeds the limits established in Article 8 of the Law on Competition, the merger must be cleared by the Council.

(4) Having examined the merger notification, the Council shall clear the merger; or clear the merger with the conditions and obligations established by the Council necessary to prevent the creation or strengthening of a dominant position or a substantial restriction of competition in a relevant market; or refuse to clear the merger where it will result in creation or strengthening of a dominant position or substantial restriction of competition in a relevant market.

Communication Division