A concentration between two national grocery retailers conditionally cleared by the Italian Competition Authority
In the Conad/Auchan merger case , the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) conditionally approved the acquisition of the seventh largest grocery retailer, Auchan, by the largest Italian supermarket chain, Conad. By the proposed acquisition, Conad will acquire 291 points of sale of different size and format owned by Auchan in Italy. Relying on the collective market shares of the merging parties combined with the measures of diversion ratio and GUPPI (Gross Upward Pricing Pressure Indicator), the ICA identified 33 problematic local markets for retailing of food products and non-food products. The theory of competition harm employed by the ICA is that the implementation of the merger would bring about unilateral anti-competitive effects. To address these competition problems, Conad and the ICA agreed on the structural remedy of divestment of 29 outlets by an undisclosed deadline. The conditional clearance decision in Conad/Auchan is consistent with the latest decisional practice