By Decision № 37/14.01.2021, the Commission on Protection of Competition has authorized United Media S.a.r.l., Luxembourg to acquire sole control over Nova Broadcasting Group EOOD and its subsidiaries and joint control over Financial Marketplace AD, Grabo Media AD and Attica Eva AD.
The Commission found that the transaction does not lead to any horizontal overlap between the activities of the parties in the concentration.
The parties concerned operate at different levels of the audiovisual supply chain and in some telecommunication markets and determined that the following vertically related markets in Bulgaria will be affected by the transaction:
- wholesale and retail supply of TV and radio channels;
- the markets for TV, internet and radio advertising (with respect to Nova's activities in the sale of advertising space), and
- the markets for the retail supply of TV and radio channels, mobile telecommunications services and internet access services (with respect to the activities of BTC).
Based on its analysis the CPC considered that the new group would have neither the ability, nor the incentive to engage in a foreclosure strategy on the vertically related markets concerned. There are alternative TV and platform operators which are able to exercise effective competitive pressure over the merged entity.
Engaging in such behavior would have possible adverse consequences, such as loss of key television content and of significant revenues. Regarding the provision of advertising space in the Nova’s media to the acquiring control group, the CPC found that the telecommunications sector is not among the leading advertisers in television, internet and radio and could not be accepted as a decisive factor for the advertising business of the media.
On the basis of its assessment, the Commission considered that the concentration should be unconditionally approved under Art. 26, para. 1 of the LPC.