The Competition Authority has decided not to take action regarding the merger of Haga and BT, as the merger that was notified to the authority has been reversed. The merger consisted of an agreement made between Hagar hf. and the bankruptcy estate of BT Verslanir ehf. on 20 November 2008 for Hagar to purchase fittings, equipment, tools, the trademark, all of BT's shop stock and other assets related to BT's retail operations.
The background to the merger being reversed is that, during its investigation of the matter, the Competition Authority issued a so-called statement of objections in which it presented arguments for its preliminary assessment that the merger would seriously impede competition. The parties were given the opportunity to submit objections to this preliminary assessment.
The merger parties objected to the Competition Authority's preliminary assessment, but subsequently announced that, in light of the Competition Authority's comments on the merger and conditions included in the purchase agreement, they had reached an agreement to terminate the purchase agreement. The merger is therefore being reversed.
In a decision today, the Competition Authority concluded that there are no grounds to take further action in the matter. However, a separate case is investigating an alleged breach of the prohibition on carrying out a merger before the Competition Authority has examined it.
See the decision for details No. 20/2009.
"*" indicates required fields
