18 December 2017: Publishing sector
The Autorité de la concurrence clears the acquisition of La Martinière Groupe (Le Seuil, Points, etc.)
by Médias-Participations (Dargaud, Dupuis, etc.).
On 13 November 2017, the Média-Participations group notified the Autorité de la concurrence of its project to acquire sole control of La Martinière Groupe. After examining the effects of the planned transaction on the markets for the acquisition of publishing rights and book promotion, distribution and sales, the Autorité de la concurrence cleared the transaction.
Média-Participations and La Martinière are two publishing groups specialising in different types of publication
Média-Participations is a publishing group specialising in comic books and religious literature, via publishing houses such as Dargaud, Dargaud Lombard and Dupuis. The group also has book promotion, distribution and retailing activities.
La Martinière is a publishing group specialising in coffee table books and general literature, and is the owner of the publishing houses Le Seuil, Points and Les Éditions de la Martinière. La Martinière Groupe also has an e-book distribution business.
In the light of its examination, the Autorité considered that the transaction would not be liable to harm competition
In particular, the Autorité acknowledged the limited nature of the positions held by the Média-Participations group and La Martinière Groupe in all the affected markets. It also took into consideration the significant competitive pressure that France’s principal publishing groups would exert on the new entity after the transaction. Post-transaction, the new group will be the publishing sector’s third-largest, after Hachette and Editis.
Concerning the comic book markets, in which the new entity will be the leader, the Autorité considered that the transaction would only slightly increase the new entity’s market share in a sector in which independent French-language comic book publishing groups also operate, like Delcourt and Glénat.
> To see the full text of decision 17-DCC-208
> Press contact: Chloé Duretête Tel. +33 (0)1 55 04 01 20/ Email