[ad_1]
ACTS announces journalistic investigations of various media because it supports freedom of expression.
After the Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC) once in less than a year banned and then authorized the sale of Nova Broadcasting Group, it will consider the case for the third time. Now, for the agreement of the current owner of Nova TV and a series of television channels, radio stations and sites “Advance Media Group” with United Group (“United Group”), which in July 2020 acquired BTC and telecom Vivacom ( “Vivacom”). What is more interesting in this case is that just four days after this deal was announced on December 14, it became clear that the United Group also wants to buy MRF MP Delyan Peevski’s newspapers “Monitor”, “Telegraph”, “Politika “. , Meridian Match and Shumen’s Borba.
Formally, the only thing in common between the two offers, whose prices are not announced, is the buyer, although the “Advance Media Group” of brothers Kiril and Georgi Domuschievi is believed to be a screen for Peevski’s influence on Nova TV.
Therefore, it is curious how the antitrust authority will fully assess the two reported transactions and what will be the reasons for the positive decisions that are expected in a few days, according to unofficial information from Mediapool.
Peevski’s participation in the newspaper market, and consequently in his influence on the media, has invariably been one of the most sensitive issues in the analysis of press freedom in Bulgaria in recent years. His response so far has been in the realm of assumptions and it is perfectly normal to expect the CCP to lift this curtain when evaluating the deal for print media. However, we will hardly understand this now, since the common practice of the commission is to erase data on the market shares of the participants in concentrations or indicate that they are below certain percentages when publishing their decisions, which does not give a idea of the market landscape.
Furthermore, it remains to be seen whether the CPC will evaluate each of the two agreements of United Group’s company, United Media, separately or together, because they are in fact related. In reality, the owner of BTC and the telecommunications brand Vivacom has all the prerequisites to become not only a media giant through television, which will obviously be offered through mobile devices, through publications that, although with a declining print circulation, they remain a media factor. solid advertising market. All this cannot fail to affect the three markets, since it is their serious symbiosis.
According to competition law attorney Hristo Koparanov of Popov, Arnaudov & Partners, the two agreements should be considered as one.
“Separately, these are two non-horizontal mergers. In principle, horizontal mergers are supposed to be more dangerous for competition because they directly increase the market share of the participants in the agreement. When it prohibited the first agreement for Nova TV to acquire it) For example, the CPC found certain horizontal overlaps, “Koparanov told Mediapool.
However, the two transactions should not be considered separately. In the case of two parallel acquisitions, the CPC must consider them as a joint transaction. This is because as a result of its occurrence the two acquired companies will merge. In this situation they will occur. and horizontal effects: in markets such as Internet advertising, online news and information services, the market for print advertising in magazines, “he said.
According to him, the CPC should assess the horizontal effects of the two agreements together. “Horizontal effects are not in themselves grounds for prohibition,” said the competition law expert, but added that if there was a danger of creating or strengthening a dominant position that would significantly impede competition, the CPC could have grounds for the prohibition or imposition of restrictive measures on transactions.
“Non-horizontal mergers, of course, can also be prohibited or, when allowed, set the conditions for them to take place. To this end, the law also requires them to create or strengthen a dominant position in some of the markets. Most of the time. This is done by companies that use their strong position in one market to influence another. To have such an opportunity and incentive, the markets are assumed to be connected. The most typical connectivity is if the markets are vertical, that is say, a company in For example, in the Nova Televiziya agreement, which was allowed, the interesting thing was that one side had the rights to broadcast football matches and the other broadcast television programs, and the CPC then did not delve into whether it was possible abuse of possession of these rights ”, he commented.
According to Koparanov, given the specific markets of the participants in the deals, they are related, even if the deals are considered separately.
“For example, BTC is assumed to be one of the main users of print and online advertising. In this regard, the CPC should probably consider whether the transaction will not result in incentives to restrict access to advertising from acquired companies to competitors of the acquiring company. “Position in one of these markets and an incentive to use it unequally, this could be an anti-competitive effect of the deal,” he said.
Especially when it comes to advertising, the CPC views these markets from the opposite point of view: the advertising business is heavily dependent on large advertisers. In this sense, if a large advertiser stops using the services of certain newspapers or online publications, it would distort advertising. markets, “admits Koparanov.
According to United Media’s request through the CPC for Nova Broadcasting Group, the new owner wants to acquire exclusive control of Net Info, Darik News, ViBox, Elite Media Bulgaria, Radio Veselina. Radio Express “,” Vitosha FM “,” Agency Vitosha “and” Agency Atlantic “, as well as joint control of” Financial Marketplace “,” Grabo Media “and” Attica Eva “.
The other application is for the exclusive control of the company “Vestnik Telegraf” EOOD, registered in October 2020, by Alexander Georgiev as representative of “Intrust” EAD, which belongs to Peevski. Its capital is 3.8 million BGN and it also includes the stamps of the newspapers published until then by Telegraf Media, against which there are several lawsuits and it has been declared in liquidation. The Telegraph controls, together with an individual, Editorial Borba, which is also part of the contract with the United Media newspaper.
United Group officially acquired Vivacom in July 2020 and the price of the deal was never announced but is said to be € 1.2 billion.
The future owner of the newspapers Nova TV and Peevski started operating in 2000 as a small cable company in Serbia, but over the next 12 years his business grew significantly by acquiring other operators and telecommunications assets. In 2012 it restructured its business and, as of March 2019, it became majority owned by British BC Partners. The other shareholder is KKR. The company is trying to consolidate the telecommunications market in the Balkans. Last summer, it received approval from the European Commission to buy Greek telecom Fortnet (Forthnet SA), which is also a pay TV provider. United Group also has assets in Slovenia, Bosnia and Montenegro.
The United Media Group itself broadcasts more than 30 television channels in Southeast Europe and reaches an audience of more than 20 million people.
[ad_2]
