MERGERS: AMO SR approved the merger of undertakings Allegro.eu, Mall Group, a.s., and WEǀDO CZ, s.r.o.
AMO SR approved a merger grounded in the acquisition of indirect exclusive control by undertaking Allegro.eu over companies Mall Group, a.s., and WEǀDO CZ, s.r.o.
On 17 December 2021 the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic, the Division of Concentrations, (hereafter "the Office”) approved a merger grounded in the acquisition of indirect exclusive control by undertaking Allegro.eu, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (hereafter “Allegro”) over companies Mall Group, a.s., the Czech Republic (hereafter “Mall”) and WEǀDO CZ, s.r.o., the Czech Republic (hereafter “WEǀDO”).
The undertaking Allegro is a holding company within the group of companies controlled by it. It is the operator of e-commerce platform Allegro.pl, which focuses on the sale of goods to customers in the territory of Poland, while offering consumer goods from a very wide range of categories. The Allegro Group provides a comprehensive range of services related to the purchase of goods and therefore further in the territory of Poland it deals with the delivery of goods, payment and advertising services, price comparison, tickets sale and other services. The Allegro Group does not carry out any business activities in the territory of the Slovak Republic.
The acquired companies belong to one economic group already before the merger. The acquired company Mall is a holding company that covers companies operating online stores Mall in the Czech Republic as well as in the territory of the Slovak Republic (via Internet Mall Slovakia, s.r.o.), in Poland, Hungary and Croatia, and an online store in Slovenia. The company Internet Mall Slovakia, s.r.o., through its online store Mall.sk, offers a wide range of consumer goods in the territory of the Slovak Republic and the network of stone shops with the possibility of personal collection of goods, payments and complaints complements the online store.
The target company WEǀDO is active mainly in the field of provision of sending and delivering of consignments in the territory of the Czech Republic. In the territory of the Slovak Republic, the company WEǀDO SK, which is the subsidiary company of WEǀDO, provides the same services.
From the above stated it flows out that the activities of merging parties overlap in terms of goods and the merger may also lead to potential non-horizontal interconnections between the merging parties. Between the activities of merging parties, there are neither overlaps nor non-horizontal interconnections in terms of space in relation to the territory of the Slovak Republic, as the undertaking Allegro focuses on the territory of Poland and it does not operate in the territory of the Slovak Republic.
Thus, the Office came to the conclusion that the assessed merger is in accordance with the Article 11 Paragraph 1 of the Act on Protection of Competition, as it will not significantly impede effective competition in the relevant market, in particular as the result of creating or strengthening of a dominant position.
The decision came into force on 20 December 2021.