The Competition Authority approves the merger of Haga hf. and Eldum rétt ehf. without intervention.

The Competition Authority has completed its investigation into the acquisition by Hagar hf. („Hagar“) of all shares in Eldum rétt ehf. („Hagar“). The Competition Authority has cleared the merger without intervention, but the authority's decision can be accessed here.

The merger was subject to an in-depth investigation, in light of Haga's strong position in the grocery market, the extent of Eldum rétt's sales of meal deals, and the other evidence in the case. This summer, the parties to the merger were served with a statement of objections, which set out the regulator's preliminary view that the merger would harm competition. The issuance of an objections statement is a step in the competition authorities' detailed investigation and is intended to ensure that all information and viewpoints are available for the final decision. By its nature, an initial assessment expressed in an objection letter is subject to change if further submissions from the parties and the Competition Authority's investigation warrant it.

The merging parties submitted their views in response to the Competition Authority's statement of objections. Hagar also put forward proposals for conditions in order to address the Authority's concerns.

Subsequently, the Competition Authority requested comments and views from market players on, on the one hand, the Competition Authority's preliminary assessment and, on the other hand, the merger parties' objections to the statement of objections. Through this additional investigation, the Competition Authority obtained further views and information from the merging parties and other market players, as well as further information, including on developments in the sale of combined meal deals in neighbouring countries.

Based on this investigation, the Competition Authority has concluded that the merger should be approved without intervention. The Competition Authority's decision provides a detailed account of the investigation and its findings. It discusses the definition of the relevant markets and the position of the parties within those markets, along with the other grounds for the decision.

Further information can be found in Decision of the Competition Authority no. 23/2022 .