In a decision today, the Competition Authority has prohibited the merger that would have resulted from Valitor hf.'s acquisition of all shares in Euro Refund Group North á Íslandi ehf. (Tax Free). The acquisition was notified to the authority last year. Valitor is engaged in the issuance of payment cards and transaction processing, while Tax Free's main business is in the field of VAT refund to foreign tourists. The Competition Authority concluded that the markets on which the companies operate are closely related. This concerns a merger of companies where a significant potential, ability and incentive to exclude competitors could arise in the markets for payment card operations, POS terminal leasing, VAT refund services for foreign tourists and so-called currency conversion. The latter involves a service for foreign tourists for the settlement of credit card transactions in a foreign currency.
It is demonstrated that the position of other operators in the relevant markets could be weakened and that the merger could lead to competitors being driven out of the market and the entry of new operators being made more difficult. This would reduce the choice for suppliers in the defined markets, to the detriment of consumers. The merger is therefore considered to involve serious competition concerns. The Competition Authority's conclusion in this case is that there are no grounds to approve the merger under the conditions proposed by the merging parties. The merger is therefore annulled by this decision, on the basis of Article 17(c) of the Competition Act. No. 44/2005.
See decision No. 3/2009.
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