CONCENTRATION AUTHORISATION GRANTED IN THE HOTEL SERVICE MARKET

Having examined the concentration notification submitted by Linstow AS the Competition Council resolved to authorise the notified concentration through acquiring the 100 % holding of UAB Baltijos parkai in accordance with the submitted notification. The Competition Council assessed the notified deal as a horizontal concentration although to an extent changing the degree of concentration in the hotel service market still not capable of creating or strengthening the dominant position or resulting in any lessening of competition in the relevant markets.

The concentration notification referred the intention of Linstow AS to further expand its operations in the Baltic States specifically in view of the growing demand for economy class hotels in the Baltic markets (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia), and the promising results of the Baltpark hotel network under the management of UAB Baltijos parkai. The hotel chain Reval Hotels managed by Linstow AS, the leading Norwegian property developers, already operates two hotels in Lithuania, namely– Reval Hotel Lietuva in Vilnius together with its most recent acquisition, the hotel Takioji Neris in Kaunas, seeks further to expand its operations in the high-end and economy class hotel markets. For that reason by acquiring other Baltpark hotels owned by UAB Baltijos parkai operating in Vilnius and Klaipėda Linstow AS enters a new stage of the hotel business development in the market. As of January 2007 all four hotels will be renamed into Reval Inn, the title that will become a proprietary trade mark of the hotels operating as part of the hotel network.