• The UOKiK has commenced the second phase of the proceedings pertaining to the contemplated merger between two clothing manufacturers: Vistula Group and Bytom.
• It has been determined that conducting market testing is necessary in order to continue the proceedings.
• The commencement of the second phase of the proceedings is by no means determinative of the ruling which may be given in the future.

The application for approval of the merger between Vistula Group and Bytom was filed with the UOKiK towards the end of August 2017. The participants of the contemplated transactions are both manufacturers of branded clothing and apparel.

Vistula specialises in clothing for both men and women as well as in wristwatches and jewellery. Through a network of subsidiaries, the company owns brands such as Lantier, Vesari, Wólczanka, Lambert, W.KRUK and Deni Cler. The company sells the majority of its products in Poland.

Bytom, on the other hand, focuses primarily on the menswear market. It sells its products through a network of company-owned and franchise stores as well as online. In addition, it also maintains limited-scale wholesale operations under the Intermoda brand. Bytom operates exclusively in the Polish territory.

The proceedings have now entered the second phase. The UOKiK will conduct market testing in order to gather information pertaining, among others, to the characteristics of the local retail markets for menswear as well as to the market shares of Vistula and Bytom and of their competitors. The absence of this data makes it impossible for the anti-monopoly authority to make an appropriate assessment of the contemplated concentration.

The commencement of the second stage of the proceedings is by no means determinative of the ruling which may be given in the future. The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection may express his conditional or unconditional approval for the concentration or, alternatively, may prohibit such transaction altogether.

Additional information

Pursuant to the act on competition and consumer protection, proceedings pertaining to concentration consist of two stages. The first stage of the proceedings takes up to one month; however, in particularly complex cases where there is a probability of a significant restriction of competition or where market testing needs to be carried out, such proceedings may also last longer.

The UOKiK website publishes information on all concentration-related anti-monopoly proceedings conducted by the Competition Authority.

Additional information for the media:

Press Office of the UOKiK 
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa
Phone: 695 902 088
Email: [SCODE]Yml1cm9wcmFzb3dlQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]

Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL