The Bundeskartellamt has cleared the "Media Impact" marketing cooperation between Funke-Mediengruppe (FMG) and Axel Springer SE.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: "Our investigations have shown that although the "Bild" newspaper has a strong position in nationwide newspaper advertising, it does not hold a dominant position under competition law. Its joint marketing of advertising space with Funke-Mediengruppe does not pose a significant impediment to effective competition. One reason for this is that advertising customers have various possibilities of booking advertising space in a combination of regional dailies and of thus achieving a nationwide market coverage. Such supraregional cooperations between newspapers which are usually regionally active do not generally raise any competition concerns. In addition, the "Bild" newspaper is also exposed to strong competition from other media in neighbouring markets like, for example, nationwide TV advertising."

The purpose of the planned joint venture "Media Impact" is to carry out under the direction of Axel Springer the nationwide marketing of advertising space for the media products of FMG and Axel Springer in the newspaper sector and the marketing of advertising for magazines and online media. The joint nationwide marketing of advertising space for the parties' dailies required an in-depth examination, in particular with regard to "Bild's” market position. The object of the examination is to determine advertising customers' demand for nationwide dailies, dailies that are at least circulated in many parts of Germany or combinations of dailies with which a high reader coverage can be achieved in a relatively broad target group. Springer has a relatively strong position in this area with its "Bild" newspaper. With its dailies FMG is represented in the growing segment of supraregional cooperations between regional subscription dailies, especially the two cooperations "Medienhaus-Deutschland" and "Nielsen-Ballungsraum-Zeitungen (NBRZ)".

The venture is the third step of a wider transaction between Axel Springer and FMG, which in the first stage included the already approved sale to FMG by Axel Springer of the Berliner Morgenpost, Hamburger Abendblatt and other newspapers and advertising newspapers as well as of Springer's women's magazines (see Bundeskartellamt press release of 3 December 2013). The second step of the transaction concerned the acquisition by FMG of all Springer's TV programme magazines, which the Bundeskartellamt cleared subject to conditions (see Bundeskartellamt press release of 29 April 2014).