The President of UOKiK has given her consent to the purchase of Real hypermarkets by Auchan Polska. However, the acquiring company will be forced to sell 8 shops. It’s been the first conditional consent issued by UOKiK this year

The transaction consists in taking control over Real hypermarkets by Auchan Polska. Groupe Auchan exerts control over Auchan Polska which owns 27 shops under the brand name of Auchan and controls Elea Polska (the owner of Simply Market chainstores). Real belongs to Grupa Metro, the international trading concern, operating in 30 countries of Europe and Eastern Asia. It owns 57 Real hypermarkets.

Groupe Auchan and Metro entered into agreement concerning the sale of shares and contributions in Real companies in Poland, Romania, Russia and Ukraine, which provided the basis for notifying the concentration. The European Commission was the relevant body to look into the case, however, by request of undertakings, the case in the part related to the Polish market was referred to the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection in March, 2013.

Market inquiry

UOKiK carried out market inquiry in the scope of retail sale of daily use consumption products in large retail stores, used in the course of proceedings. 13 leading trading networks operating in Poland were questioned about the structure and the level of market concentration. – The analysis of the Office showed that supermarkets and discount shops are not direct competitors to hypermarkets. Consumers do their minor daily shopping mainly in smaller shops. By contrast, they use offers of hypermarkets less frequently, usually a few times a month. During one purchase, they buy more products than in supermarkets and discount shops, and frequently make supplies. – comments Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel, the President of UOKiK.

Furthermore, the Office assumed that hypermarkets compete with each other within the distance of 20 or 25 car drive from the acquired establishment. It was based on postal codes examination provided by concentration participants. Additionally, it stems from the extent of information campaigns conducted by trading centres by means of leaflets or inserts. Most importantly, this area may be smaller or go beyond one city limits.

Condition

The conducted proceedings revealed that the transaction would lead to the restriction of competition on eleven local markets, where the total share of concentration participants would be significantly above the level where obtaining a dominant position is made plausible, and thus such entities could enjoy a considerable advantage over the competitors. The President of UOKiK decided, however, that it is possible to impose on the acquiring company specified conditions so as to level the negative results of this transaction and lead to maintaining the effective competition on these markets. -According to the issued decision, Auchan Polska is obliged to divest of its rights to eight Real hypermarkets, which cannot exceed the period of 18 months as of implementing the transaction by Auchan. The rights should be transferred to an investor out of Auchan capital group, and not under joint control by any other entity belonging to this capital group.- claims Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel, the President of UOKiK. Added to that, the acquiring entity will have to be accepted by the Office. In the case the new owner fails to guarantee to maintain the previous trading operations of establishments, the Office may reject it. Shops to be sold are located in: Białymstok, Bielsko Biała, Czeladź, Legnica, Rzeszów, Szczecin, Wałbrzych and Sosnowiec*.

When assessing the concentration, the President of the Office may prohibit the transaction, issue a consent to the implementation of the transaction, or make it conditional upon the fulfilment of additional obligations by the undertaking. Since the year 2004, it has been the 18^th decision obliging the undertaking notifying a transaction to meet specified conditions.

The decision is not final and may be appealed against by the notifying entity to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection (pl. SOKiK). Information on all concentration-related antitrust proceedings conducted by the Office is available on the Office’s website.

Additional information for the media:
Małgorzata Cieloch, Spokesperson for UOKiK
Department of International Relations and Communication
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa
Phone: +48 22 827 28 92, 55 60 314
Fax +48 22 826 11 86
E-mail: [SCODE]bWFsZ29yemF0YS5jaWVsb2NoQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]

*      Real in Białystok, ul. Miłosza 2,

Real in  Bielsko-Biała, ul. Leszczyńskiej 20,

Real in Legnica, ul. Fabryczna 3,

Real in Rzeszów, al. Wincentego Witosa 2,

Real in Szczecin, ul. Ku Słońcu 67,

Real in Wałbrzych, ul. Kusocińskiego 4,

Real in Sosnowiec, ul. Baczyńskiego 2,

Real in Czeladź, ul. Będzińska 80.