In January this year, Dagsbrún hf. acquired all the shares in Securitas hf. This constitutes a merger within the meaning of competition law. Dagsbrún hf. is the parent company of Og fjarskipta hf., the second largest telecommunications company in Iceland, and 365 ljósvaka- og prentmiðla hf., the largest media company of its kind in Iceland. Securitas operates in the market for security services, which includes remote monitoring of homes, businesses and holiday homes using telecommunications systems for surveillance. In the opinion of the Competition Authority, Securitas is dominant in the market for security services.
The Competition Authority considers that the merger creates the possibility of integrating security services with the services of other Dagsbrún subsidiaries, which will strengthen the company's position in the security services market. This primarily concerns the integration of telecommunications services and/or subscription television with security services, as things stand. Officially, Dagsbrún has published its future outlook that new companies in the Dagsbrún group, such as Securitas, will further strengthen market penetration into the home and individual market, where subscription revenues create a strong foundation.
The Competition Authority has concluded that the merger of Dagsbrún and Securitas could, if nothing is done, restrict current competition and also the ability of new entrants to enter the security services market. The Competition Authority also considers that the merger could lead to the intertwining of services from different markets, resulting in a lack of price transparency and constraints on competition. For these reasons, the merger is subject to the following conditions, to which Dagsbrún has agreed to be bound:
- Securitas is prohibited from making the purchase of any service provided by another subsidiary of Dagsbrún a condition of the purchase of a service provided by the company. Furthermore, Securitas is prohibited from pricing its services, which are offered in conjunction with those of another Dagsbrún subsidiary, in such a way that the pricing of the offers amounts to a condition that one type of service is purchased in conjunction with another.
The substantive conditions of paragraph 1 also apply to Dagsbrún's subsidiaries other than Securitas.
- If Securitas offers its services together with the services of another Dagsbrún subsidiary, the price for each service must be stated in the offer. The same applies if other Dagsbrún subsidiaries offer their services together with the services of Securitas.
- Breach of these conditions is subject to sanctions in accordance with Chapter IX of the Competition Act. No. 44/2005. For the reasons and arguments for the decision, reference is otherwise made to the decision of the Competition Authority. No. 34/2006.
