• The President of UOKiK has approved Maxima Grupe’s take-over of control over Emperia.
• The former entrepreneur runs Aldik and Sano chains, while the latter is the owner of the Stokrotka chain.
• The proceedings conducted by UOKiK have demonstrated that the transaction will not result in restriction of competition.

Concentration participants operate both large-area stores (above 350 m2), and traditional outlets – with the area of less than 350 m2. Maxima Grupe is

a Lithuanian company owning two retail store chains operating in Poland - Aldik and Sano. Emperia is a Warsaw Stock Exchange listed company owning the Stokrotka chain.

In January 2018 UOKiK ordered that the second phase of the concentration assessment procedure be conducted. It was necessary to perform a market survey. The Authority distributed surveys among approximately 50 undertakings competing with the concentration scheme participants. The questions concerned, inter alia, the turnover generated, the sales area and the new outlets planned.

With the answers provided by entrepreneurs and the previous case-law taken into consideration, the Authority decided that the chains were competing with each other on local markets. The larger ones - within a 10-15 minute drive, while the smaller ones - within the radius of up to one kilometer. Furthermore, outlets of more than 350 m2 are also competing with traditional shops.

“The proceedings conducted demonstrated that competition will not be restricted on any of the local markets. Following the take-over of Emperia, Maxima Grupe will have to continue competing with other entrepreneurs. This means that consumers will still be offered a large choice of stores in close vicinity to their homes. They will continue to have access to both large and traditional retail outlets” – says Michał Holeksa, Vice-President  of UOKiK.

According to the provisions of applicable laws, a concentration scheme is subject to notification to the antitrust authority if it involves undertakings whose aggregate turnover generated in the preceding year exceeded EUR 1 billion worldwide or EUR 50 million in Poland.

The decisions approving the concentration expire if the transaction is not completed within 2 years of the adoption thereof. The UOKiK website publishes information on all concentration-related antitrust proceedings conducted by the Office. More information about the principles governing mergers can be found in a dedicated paper.

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office 
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa
Tel. 22 55 60 430, 695 902 088
Email: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL