The Bundeskartellamt has today cleared the acquisition of SportScheck GmbH based in Unterhaching by Vienna-based Signa Retail GmbH.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “Despite the fact that the acquisition leads to the creation of Germany’s leading sports and outdoor retailer, the project does not give rise to competition law concerns. Signa Retail and SportScheck's combined market shares in the relevant sectors in Germany do not exceed 15 percent. The parties do not reach a market share of more than 30 percent in any of the regions concerned, even if their brick-and-mortar outlets are considered in isolation. In addition, online sales are very important in this sector. Significant competitive pressure emanates from online retailers like Amazon or the manufacturers’ online shops.”

With Karstadt Sports, the Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof department stores and several specialist retailers like the Tennis Point Group and the Outfitter Group, Signa Retail, which is controlled by the Benko private trust company, is active in the sports and outdoor retail sector. Up until now SportScheck belonged to the Otto Group. With its 19 stores and online shop, the company is a significant retailer in this sector.

Signa Retail and SportScheck together have a Germany-wide market share of less than 15 percent if their online sales of sports and outdoor clothing, shoes and equipment are included. Besides Signa Retail other major sports and outdoor retailers will continue to exist after the merger, for example Decathlon and Amazon. Other important competitors include sports retailers that are members of the Intersport and Sport 2000 purchasing cooperatives. The member retailers of each of these two organisations in total achieve significantly higher sales with sports and outdoor articles than Signa Retail.

Signa Retail’s market position in the brick-and-mortar business is already strong because of its Karstadt Sports and Galeria shops and will be further strengthened by the SportScheck shops in some regions. The parties concerned together have more than ten shops in major cities like Berlin, Munich and Hamburg. However, there is also a large number of competitors in each of these cities. Significant competitive pressure also emanates from specialist retailers and the retailing activities of major sports goods manufacturers in some of the relevant product ranges.

The Bundeskartellamt’s investigations have shown that Signa Retail’s scope of action in brick-and-mortar retailing is also limited by online competition. The companies surveyed said that online sales accounted for approximately 30 percent of their total turnover. They also said that retailers exclusively selling online exerted considerable competitive pressure on their brick-and-mortar business. More than 90 percent of the sports retailers with brick-and-mortar shops surveyed by the Bundeskartellamt named at least one pure play online retailer among their five closest competitors.