Bundeskartellamt clears hospital merger between Asklepios / LBK Hamburg subject to condition

The Bundeskartellamt has cleared the acquisition of a majority share in Landesbetrieb Krankenhäuser Hamburg GmbH (LBK Hamburg) by Asklepios Kliniken GmbH (Asklepios), Königstein-Falkenstein, under the condition that one of the LBK hospitals be sold to a third party. In this way a strengthening of the dominant position held by the companies concerned in the Hamburg hospital market could be prevented.

The general hospitals of the City of Hamburg are centralized in the LBK Hamburg. LBK Hamburg consists in total of seven major hospitals, which in 2003 achieved a turnover of approx. 750 mio. Euro. LBK Hamburg has more than 5,000 beds and with 40 special disciplines and over 100 special departments covers the entire spectrum of medical care services. The City of Hamburg is to retain a minority shareholding and take co-control of LBK-Hamburg. The City of Hamburg also has further medical institutions such as the University Clinic in Eppendorf and in its capacity as hospital planning authority also determines the allocation of funds and the registration of hospitals in the municipal hospital plan of the City of Hamburg.

Asklepios is one of the leading private hospital groups in Germany. Its sole shareholder is the lawyer and accountant Dr. Bernard Broermann. In Germany Asklepios operates approx. 50 institutions, including hospitals, rehabilitation clinics and other social institutions. Asklepios also holds management contracts with other hospital authorities. With its own clinics Asklepios achieves a turnover of more than 700 mio. Euro.

Due to the merger project the City of Hamburg’s existing dominant position in the Hamburg hospital market (approx. 60 per cent market share) would have been strengthened, particularly because Asklepios is already active in the market with a hospital in Hamburg-Rissen. However these strengthening effects are compensated by the sale of one LBK Hamburg hospital because each of these hospitals has a considerably higher number of cases and therefore a greater market share than the Asklepios hospital in Hamburg-Rissen. The obligation to divest is to be fulfilled within a fixed time limit set by the Bundeskartellamt. The planned acquisition could thus be cleared.