On Monday 12 June, the European Commission announced that, under the Merger Control Regulation, it had conditionally approved the proposed acquisition of the Lagardère S.A. multimedia group (France) by the multimedia group Vivendi S.E (France).
After an in-depth examination of the merger as initially notified, the Commission was concerned that the transaction would harm competition in the book and magazine publishing sectors.
The Commission considered that this merger would strengthen the position of Editis and Hachette on various publishing markets.
In addition, the Commission noted the limited number of operators active on the book market able to compete with the merged entity.
The Commission was also concerned that the deal would reduce choice and lead to higher prices for celebrity magazines in France.
Consequently, the Commission has made the approval of the transaction conditional on Vivendi’s full compliance with its commitments to divest its publishing activities: Editis and its entities, including publishers such as Robert Laffont, Nathan, Le Robert and Pocket as well as its magazine Gala. The Commission considers that these assets can constitute a viable business and that the purchaser of these assets would be able to compete with the merged entity.
The acquisition can only be completed after the Commission has approved a suitable purchaser.
Link to the case: https://aeur.eu/f/7f1 (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)