The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection ordered Oficyna Wydawnicza Wielkopolski (publisher of "Głos Wielkopolski" daily newspaper) to terminate a permanent co-operation agreement with Prasa Poznańska (publisher of "Gazeta Poznańska") and to sell some of its assets. Cezary Banasiński imposed on OWW a fine of EUR 50 thousand for breaching the law

Investigation of an acquisition by Oficyna Wydawnicza Wielkopolski (OWW) the Prasa Poznańska publishing house was started on 6 February 2003 in effect of press news on a possible merger of the two companies.

During its investigation, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection found out that there had been a number of transactions between the two publishers over a short period of time. First, Polskapresse (owner of 100 per cent shares in Prasa Poznańska) bought a stake giving it 24,5 per cent of votes at shareholders’ meetings of Oficyna Wydawnicza Wielkopolski. This was followed by an agreement between Prasa Poznańska and OWW under which the first sold an “organised part of enterprise” to Oficyna - that was the name assigned to the assets of "Gazeta Poznańska" and its local branches.

In March and April 2003 there were a dozen or even more transactions between Prasa Poznańska or Polskapresse on one hand and Oficyna on the other. Among those, the most important was the agreement of 11 March 2003 under which Oficyna granted to Prasa Poznańska an exclusive right to acquire advertisements and classifieds for all titles published by it.

Analysing the circumstances of the transactions, the Office found out that as a result Oficyna Wydawnicza Wielkopolski took control over the entire Prasa Poznańska and acquired the editor of "Gazeta Poznańska" along with its local branches. At the same time, Prasa Poznańska obtained the right to acquire and place advertisements in titles published by OWW. In effect, there were only two out of three publishers of daily general information press in the market of Wielkopolska province and the share of Oficyna Wydawnicza Wielkopolski in the market of regional daily press and the market of advertising space in regional daily press increased to over 70 per cent. In the opinion of UOKiK, Oficyna obtained a strong dominating market position and thus caused a severe restriction of competition.

Although joint sales of the enterprises participating in concentration exceeded EUR 50 million, the statutory duty to notify the transaction to the President of UOKiK was not performed. As a result, the President of the Office instructed Oficyna to terminate the agreement with Prasa Poznańska, covering regular co-operation in acquisition and publication of classifieds and advertisements in titles published by OWW. At the latest on the termination date of the agreement, the company also has to sell the unlawfully purchased assets, that is the editor of "Gazeta Poznańska". The assets can be bought by any entity that is not member of the Oficyna capital group.

It is hard to imagine to impose on Oficyna Wydawnicza Wielkopolski other obligations, but those, that would revert the effects of the agreements concluded between publishers of local Wielkopolska province press, says Cezary Banasiński, President of UOKiK. As long as the legal effects of a formal take-over of control persist, other measures, for instance in the form of an order to sell the shares will not produce expected results. The real purpose of the order issued by UOKiK is to return to the previous status, i.e. when "Gazeta Poznańska" and "Głos Wielkopolski" would be issued by two independent and competing publishers.

For failure to notify of control take-over over Prasa Poznańska, Oficyna Wydawnicza Wielkopolski was punished with a fine of EUR 50 thousand (zloty 235 850). The sanction in the maximum amount provided in the Act on competition and consumer protection - in the opinion of the President of the Office - is adequate to the extent of guilt and harm of the action in view of failure to notify the concentration intention and secondly in view of the transaction having been completed, with counterproductive effects for the Wielkopolska regional media market.

The decision of President of UOKiK may be appealed to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection.

Additional information:
Elżbieta Anders, Spokesperson of UOKiK
International Relations and Communication Department
Office of Competition and Consumer Protection

Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw
Ph.: (+48 22) 827 28 92
E-mail: eanders@uokik.gov.pl