Brussels, 14/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has authorised the creation of a joint venture between Holding di Partecipazioni (HDP) and De Agnostini, groups which are both active in the Italian media sector. HDP operates in many fields (publishing, radio, advertising) through the subsidiaries it controls: publication and distribution of newspapers (RCS Editori and RCS Diffusione), magazines (RCS Periodici) and part-works (RCS Collezionabili). The De Agnostini group is active in the publication and distribution of various print media, including works appearing in several parts. HDP and De Agostini intend to merge their activities in print media distribution and in non-publishing fields, within a single company to be controlled jointly. The venture will also enter into agreements with other publishers with a view to distributing their products to kiosks. The Commission believes that the creation of this company will not raise any competition problem as, even in the future, it will not hold a sufficiently strong position to impede its competitors' activities. The operation could also promote rationalisation in the currently extremely fragmented Italian distribution to kiosks market, in which there are a number of operators with market shares of less than 1%.