Bundeskartellamt clears merger in the press wholesale sector

In second phase proceedings the Bundeskartellamt has cleared the acquisition of control over Presse Vertrieb Pfalz GmbH & Co. KG, Frankenthal (PV Pfalz) by Roth+Horsch Pressevertrieb GmbH & Co. KG, Weiterstadt (Roth+Horsch). Both companies are active in the press wholesale sector. Roth+Horsch is a press wholesaler which has so far been independent from publishing companies. A total of ten publishing houses jointly hold an 80% interest in PV Pfalz, among them the publishers Axel Springer, Bauer, Gruner + Jahr, Burda and WAZ. In the new company to be created, Frankenthaler Pressevertrieb, the ten publishers will only hold a joint minority interest.

The merger project involves the press wholesale markets in Southern Hesse with the cities of Darmstadt and Offenbach, the Palatinate region with the cities of Kaiserslautern and Worms, and Northern Baden-Württemberg with the city of Mannheim.

Press wholesalers purchase newspapers and magazines from the publishing companies to supply the retail sector. As a rule, press wholesalers hold exclusive distribution rights for the media products of individual publishing houses in their distribution area. The territory of the Federal Republic of Germany is therefore covered by a number of regional wholesale monopolies. The German wholesale system is based on the neutrality of the press wholesale sector vis-à-vis all publishing houses and all media products. In 2004, the Association of German Magazine Publishers (Verband Deutscher Zeitschriftenverleger), VDZ, the Federal Association of German Newspaper Publishers (Bundesverband Deutscher Zeitungsverleger), BDZV, and the Association of German Book, Newspaper & Magazine Wholesalers (Bundesverband Presse-Grosso) agreed on a "Joint Declaration" in the sense of a self-commitment. The associations' objective is to maintain an efficient press wholesale sector which is to continue to ensure neutrality in the distribution sector, market access for all newspapers and magazines, and thus press diversity in the retail sector.

The merger between a wholesaler in which no publishers hold an interest (Roth+Horsch) and a wholesaler where this is the case (PV Pfalz), with the aim to create a wholesale company in which the publishing houses will participate, has raised concerns by Bundesverband Presse-Grosso that the neutrality of the wholesale system might be jeopardised. The Bundeskartellamt’s investigations have not revealed any reasons to prohibit the proposed concentration. The creation or strengthening of a dominant position is not to be expected either in the press wholesale markets concerned or in the newspaper and magazine markets. Although, due to the importance of their media products, the large publishing houses, in particular Axel Springer and Bauer, have a strong market position both vis-à-vis the press wholesale sector and individual wholesalers, the merger of Roth+Horsch and PV Pfalz will not cause any change in this market position. The merged company, Frankenthaler Pressevertrieb, will also be committed to maintaining neutrality vis-à-vis all publishing companies.