The President of UOKiK has given her consent to take over companies belonging to the Bertelsmann group, owing such papers as Gala, Claudia, National Geographic Edycja Polska, or Focus Historia by Burda International, the publisher of glossy magazines including Elle, Dobre Rady, or Burda

The participants to the concentration constitute a part of media concerns operating worldwide. Burda International belongs to the Burda group, whereas the companies to be acquired (G+J Gruner+Jahr Polska, G+J Gruner+Jahr Polska sp. komandytowa, G+J Media and G+J) belong to the Bertelsmann group, and deal, inter alia, with publishing books and periodicals as well as provide financial and printing services for publishing houses.

The conducted proceedings revealed that the only segment where, as a result of concentration, Burda International would enjoy a significant market share, is the home sales market of cooking magazines. Burda issues titles such as Prześlij przepis and Polska gotuje, whereas the companies to be acquired - Moje Gotowanie. However, the examination of the Office proved that magazines concerning only cooking issues face greater competition, as other magazines (mainly women’s press) place cooking tips colums, provide free of charge inserts. Moreover, they compete with book publishing houses and recipes available on the Internet. Additionally, the Office took into consideration the fact that new cooking issues publishers face insignificant market entry barriers.

For this reason the President of UOKiK decided that concentration  would not result in a significant restriction of competition and granted her consent to take controlover companies belonging to the Bertelsmann group by Burda International.

Under the law, any transaction is subject to notification to the antitrust authority if it involves undertakings whose total turnover achieved in the preceding year exceeds EUR 1 billion worldwide or EUR 50 million in Poland.

Decisions granting consent to implement a concentration expire if the merger is not completed within 2 years from the decision issue date. Information about all concentration-related antitrust proceedings conducted by the Office is available on the Office’s website. For more information concerning merging undertakings please see the specifically made study.

Additional information for the media:
Małgorzata Cieloch, Spokesperson for UOKiK
Department of International Relations and Communication
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa
Tel.: +48 22 827 28 92, 55 60 314, 55 60 430
Fax: +48 22 826 11 86
E-mail: [SCODE]bWFsZ29yemF0YS5jaWVsb2NoQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]