5 December 2001: e-commerce
The Autorité de la concurrence clears the acquisition of Rue du Commerce’s sole control by Altarea.
The Autorité de la concurrence examined the acquisition of Rue du Commerce by Altarea, by means of the acquisition of a bloc of shares and a public takeover bid on Rue du Commerce’s securities.
Altarea is the parent company of Altarea Cogedim, which is active on both the real estate development and the ownership and management of shopping centres’ sectors.
Rue du commerce is active mainly on the sector of online distribution of computer and consumer electronic products through the www.rueducommerce.com, www.topachat.com and clust.com websites. Moreover, the company owns a platform of free classifieds and is also active in the online advertising sector.
The ongoing developments on the retail distribution markets (in particular the expansion of retail cross-channel systems, “points relais”, web to shop, etc.) suggest the existence of increasing linkages between e-commerce and retail-outlets, and therefore potential linkages between the sectors, in which both groups operate. However, in view of the low market share detained by both companies on their respective markets, such linkages are not likely to raise competition concerns.
Consequently, the Autorité de la concurrence ruled out any risk of distortion of competition and cleared the transaction without conditions.
> The full text of decision 11-DCC-182 will soon be published on the Autorité de la concurrence website.
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