COMPETITION COUNCIL TO REVIEW THE TRANSACTION OF NEWS PORTALS

On 15 May 2024, the Competition Council received a notification of concentration from the Estonian company Ekspress Grupp, which operates the news portal delfi.lt, following its acquisition of 100 per cent of the shares of Lrytas.

On 21 December 2023, the Competition Council has found that Ekspress Grupp violated the Law on Competition by acquiring Lrytas, which operates the news portal lrytas.lt, without notifying the Authority and without obtaining its permission. The Estonian company was fined EUR 140 460 and required to bring the infringement to an end within 2 months or to restore the previous situation or remedy the consequences of the infringement.

In February 2024, having assessed the arguments submitted by Ekspress Grupp regarding the scope and complexity of the notification and the need for additional time and action, the Competition Council postponed the deadline for submitting the notification of the concentration until 22 March 2024. Subsequently, the Authority provided comments to the company on the scope of the information required in the notification, the reasoning and the evidence supporting it.

The Competition Council received the compliant notification of the merger following the acquisition of Lrytas by Ekspress Grupp on 15 May this year. The Authority will examine the information submitted by the parties to the transaction, collect data from other market participants and assess whether the transaction strengthened a dominant position or restricted competition in the relevant markets. 

Market participants have the right to submit their reasoned opinions on the concentration to the Competition Council within 10 working days from the receipt of the notification.

The intended concentration must be notified to the Competition Council and cleared if the combined total turnover of the undertakings involved in the concentration in the last year preceding the concentration exceeds EUR 20 million and the combined total turnover of each of at least two undertakings involved in the concentration in the last year preceding the concentration exceeds EUR 2 million.