Takeover of assets belonging to Ludendo (La Grande Récré) by the JouéClub group: the Autorité opens a public consultation until 7 May 2024
The JouéClub group has notified the Autorité de la concurrence of the acquisition of exclusive control of assets belonging to the Ludendo group concerning, in France, 120 stores operated under the La Grande Récré or Starjouet banners.
The notification follows on from the decision of the Paris Commercial Court on 9 June 2023, as part of court-ordered liquidation proceedings (liquidation judiciaire), to assign the aforementioned assets to JouéClub.
Public consultation
The Autorité wants to explore whether any operators in the toy retailing sector would potentially be interested in taking over all or some Ludendo points-of-sale in France.
To that end, the Autorité has decided to give all interested operators the opportunity to respond freely as part of a public consultation. Operators are invited to submit their responses to the Mergers Registry (greffe.concentrations@autoritedelaconcurrence.fr) by 7 May 2024.
Attention
Please note that the questionnaire in no way prejudges the outcome of the investigation into the transaction, which is conducted pursuant to Articles L. 430-6 and L. 430-7 of the French Commercial Code (Code de commerce). The Autorité may clear the transaction without remedies, impose remedies or even prohibit the transaction if deemed detrimental to competition.
Furthermore, the questionnaire does not necessarily mean that the assets concerned will be put up for sale and is also without prejudice, where applicable, to any agreement on the terms of such a sale or to the approval of potential buyers by the Autorité.
In the context of its merger control mission, consultations (“market tests”) enable the Autorité to assess the effects of the transaction, build its decision-making practice and define the relevant markets in close collaboration with the market stakeholders.
Questionnaire (Word) (in French)
Appendix to the questionnaire (Excel) (in French)
Contact(s)
