The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection cleared a merger of Marks and Spencer Poland and MSF Poland. The companies are owners of clothing retail chains in Poland

The proceedings were initiated upon the request of Marks and Spencer Poland, which owns clothing stores and provides services connected, among other things, with the sale of food products. MSF Poland, in turn, operates retail outlets under the Marks and Spencer brand name in four Warsaw shopping centres - Złote Tarasy, Galeria Mokotów, Arkadia and Targówek.

The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection cleared the merger. On the basis of this, Marks and Spencer Poland will acquire MSF, which, after the transaction is finalized, will cease its business activity in the present scope.

Having conducted antitrust proceedings, the President of the Office found that the transaction is not going to contribute to significant lessening of competition, especially by creating or strengthening a dominant position on the market.

Under the existing regulations, a transaction is subject to notification to UOKiK if it involves enterprises whose total turnover in the preceding year exceeded EUR 1 billion globally or EUR 50 million in Poland.

Further information:
Małgorzata Cieloch, Spokesperson for UOKiK
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw, Poland
Tel. (+48 22) 827 28 92, 55 60 106, 55 60 430
faks (+48 22) 826 11 86
E-mail: mcieloch@uokik.gov.pl