competitionlaw

By a recent decision (Case C11072, Moby/Toremar ) the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has conditionally cleared the Moby acquisition of the ferry operator Toremar. Toremar, a ferry operator controlled by the Region of Tuscany, was entrusted to provide maritime links from Tuscany to the Island of Elba and other minor islands off the Tuscany coast under a regime of public service obligation. Moby submitted the winning bid in a public tender procedure organized by the Region of Tuscany to select to whom sell Toremar. The ICA opened an investigation into the Moby acquisition of Toremar, because also Moby was active in the maritime routes between Tuscany and Elba, and some of its routes overlapped with those of Toremar. In particular, the ICA found competition problems with the Piombino-Portoferraio route. Post-merger, Moby would have a quasi monopoly position on this route, the only other competitor, Blu Navy, having a very small market share. Furthermore, Moby and Toremar togethe...

The decision of the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) in the Sapec Agro/Bayer-Helm (Case A415) is a rare case of Article 102 TFEU condemnation. Bayer Cropscience (BCS) was accused for having refused to grant some of its competitors access to toxicology studies in its possession on fosetyl. The BCS had as effects its competitors having to exit the market for the plant health products based on fosetyl. Indeed, the regulatory regime in force subjected the granting of market authorization for plant health products based on fosetyl to the production of toxicology studies on the effects of this substance. The ICA rejected the commitments offered by BCS and found that BCS had to grant its competitors access to the studies, because the studies constituted essential facilities. Therefore the ICA fined € 5.124.359,00 BCS for abuse of dominant position in the market for the production and commercialization of fosetyl-based fungicides. The most noteworthy aspect of Sapec Agro/Bayer-Helm i...

The UK Competition Commission (CC) has unconditionally cleared the Stena/DFDS merger. This relevant market affected by the transaction was the market for ferry services between Ireland and Great Britain. At the moment of the merger it was a declining market with all the ferry operators losing market shares because of the recession. So there existed an oversupply of capacity. The merger pursues the reorganization of the ferry services provided by the parties with Stena replacing DFDS on Liverpool-Belfast and Heysham-Belfast routes and closing two Dublin-base routes. Moreover, at the same time of the merger, Stena closed its Fleetwood-Larne route. What is of relevance in the CC decision is the counterfactual it identified. Counterfactual – what would happen if the merger does not take place- is an important step to ascertain the competition impact of the merger, and it should be carefully identified. According to the Merger Assessment Guidelines , one of the cases in which it is po...

The Italian maritime transport industry, especially ferry services between continental Italy and islands, is about to go through a thorough process of reorganization with the disappearance of Tirrenia, the long ailing publicly held incumbent ferry operator that will be soon divested by the Government. Unsurprisingly, the sector has attracted the attention of the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) which opened two investigations. First, the ICA started an Article 101 TFEU investigation into alleged price-fixing practice on the market for Italy and Sardinia maritime links ( Autorità Garante del Mercato e della Concorrenza , decision of 11 May 2011, Case I743, Tariffe Traghetti Sardegna- Sardinia Ferries Fares) . The ferry operators that are alleged to take part to this practice are Moby , Grandi Navi Veloci ( GNV ), SNAV and Forship active with the brand of Corsica Sardina Ferries ( CSF ). In other words, the parties are all the major ferry operators on the Sardinia-continetal I...