30 August 2012: Publishing
The Autorité de la concurrence clears the acquisition of the Flammarion group by the Gallimard group
The Autorité de la concurrence has cleared the acquisition of the Flammarion group by the Gallimard group, on the basis that the operation does not raise any competition issues.
Both Gallimard group and Flammarion group operate in the publishing sector - producing, marketing, distributing and selling books. Both groups own several publishing firms that specialise in general literature, children’s and young adult books, art and other coffee-table books, educational books and graphic novels. Gallimard owns Les Editions Gallimard, Folio, Les Editions Denoël, Mercure de France, Ed. de la Table Ronde, P.O.L. Editeur, Editions Alternatives, Gallimard Loisirs, Gallimard Jeunesse, Editions Les Grandes Personnes, Gallimard and Gallisol, while Flammarion owns Les Editions Flammarion, Nexso, ESFP, Casterman, J’ai Lu and Audie.
Gallimard group will substantially consolidate its position through the acquisition of Flammarion group, becoming the third largest operator in the sector. However, the new entity will continue to face competition from a number of operators that are equally or better positioned, including in particular France’s two main publishing groups, Hachette and Editis, which are vertically integrated and present in all the market segments in which the new entity will operate, as well as smaller operators or operators specialising in a certain category of books that are nevertheless in a position to bring competitive pressure on the new entity in certain market segments.
The Autorité de la concurrence has therefore ruled out all risk of a distortion of competition and has unreservedly cleared the operation.
> Full text of Decision 12-DCC-126 (in French)
> Press contact : André Piérard - Tel.: +33 1 55 04 02 28