The President of the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection issued decisions on 'divestment' in two cases against press publishers who failed to notify concentration and infringed competition on the regional press market. This is first time the President of the Office has applied such severe means. In addition, in both cases, the President of the Office fined the press publishers the Polish zĹoty equivalent of 50,000 Euro. This is the highest fine allowed by Polish competition law for a failure to notify a concentration. On 30 October 2003, the President of the Office, acting ex officio, initiated antimonopoly proceedings against Polskapresse, which had failed to notify a concentration with DolnoĹlÄ skie Wydawnictwo Prasowe. The investigation showed that Polskapresse acquired the business of DolnoĹlÄ skie Wydawnictwo Prasowe, and as a result Polskapresse's share in the market of regional newspapers in DolnoĹlÄ skie Voivodship increased from 36.4% to 60.8%. Polskapresse's share in the market of advertising slots in the regional press increased from 37.7% to 53%. These increases had a clear impact on the prices of advertising slots offered by Polskapresse's titles, which rose significantly after the concentration. The President of the Office claimed that, if Polskapresse had notified its intention to concentrate by acquiring DolnoĹlÄ skie Wydawnictwo Prasowe, consent for the transaction would not have been issued, due to the high market shares of these businesses. The President of the Office decided that, in order to restore competition on the market, Polskapresse must sell the business of DolnoĹlÄ skie Wydawnictwo Prasowe, which it illegally acquired, within six months from the date on which the decision becomes legally valid. The obligation to sell the assets does not include rights to the press title "WieczĂłr WrocĹawia". Additionally, the President of the Office fined Polskapresse 50,000 Euro for a failure to notify the concentration. The second decision was issued against Oficyna Wydawnicza Wielkopolski, which, on the basis of a number of transactions, acquired control over Prasa PoznaĹ’ska (now Wielkopolski Dom Mediowy). As a result, Oficyna Wydawnicza Wielkopolski's share in the regional press market and advertising slots in the regional press market increased to over 70%, which had a negative impact on competition on the market. Despite the obligation to notify the transaction, Oficyna Wydawnicza Wielkopolski failed to notify the concentration to the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection. Thus, the President of the Office ordered Oficyna Wydawnicza Wielkopolski to sell the illegally acquired assets in order to restore competition on the markets and imposed on the company a fine of 50,000 Euro for failing to notify the concentration. The decisions may be appealed against to the Court for Competition and Consumer Protection. For further information please contact MaĹgorzata Surdek at malgorzata.surdek@cmck.com or on +48 22 520 5589. Law-NowPoland is now available in English, French and Polish. Update your profile at www.law-now.com to select your preferred language or contact Monika FurmaĹ’czyk at monika.furmanczyk@cmck.com If you are interested in how EU accession will affect business in CEE, go to www.law-now.com/euaccession to view our EU accession toolkit. |
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