Vj-97/1999/14
RANSART SA / CSEMEGE-JULIUS MEINL INDUSTRIAL AND TRADING LTD
RANSART S. A., the Belgian holding company, owns or controls directly and indirectly several retailing and purchasing undertakings on the West-European food market, was planning to acquire control over Csemege-Julius Meinl Industry and Trading Ltd (hereinafter: CsJM), acting on the Hungarian food market, by purchasing 98,4 per cent of its shares, to which transaction RANSART applied for an authorisation of the Office of Economic Competition (OEC).
At the first place the Competition Council examined the obligation to apply for authorisation and pointed out that although RANSART did not realise turnover in 1998 on the Hungarian market, the net turnover of CsJM, the undertaking becoming under control, exceeded the threshold stipulated by the Competition Act. Hence the application concerning the planned transaction was obligatory.
The Competition Council investigated also Profi Ltd food trading company, which did not belong to the RANSART group, in this sense it was not an indirect participant of the concentration, but had a tight ownership and personal link to the RANSART group.
The joint market share of CsJM and Profi is 12,4 per cent on the Budapest retail market, 8,3 per cent on the whole Hungarian retail market and 8,9 per cent on the Hungarian purchase market. Consequently, the food trading companies concerned have no dominant position either as sellers, or buyers on the relevant market. The Competition Council could not see any justification to refuse the authorisation therefore the transaction was cleared. At the same time it drew the attention of the parties to the fact that CsJM and Profi were competitors, acting independently of each other in separated organisations, therefore a possible agreement between them in the future would be restrictive, and the necessity of another authorisation of the OEC would arise.
November 15, 1999. Budapest
dr. Bodócsi András sk. előadó
Fógel Jánosné dr. sk.
dr. Sólyom Eszter sk.
Szabó Györgyi