Merger of Pressan ehf. and DV ehf.

The Competition Authority received a notification of the merger of Pressan ehf. and DV ehf., along with a merger filing, on 13 November 2014, concerning Pressan ehf.'s acquisition of a total of 70.84% of the share capital in DV ehf. In the opinion of the Authority, the said acquisition constituted a merger within the meaning of Article 17 of the Competition Act and Article 62b of the Media Act. During the proceedings, a request was received for an exemption from the prohibition on the implementation of the merger between DV and Pressan, pursuant to paragraph 4 of Article 17a of the Competition Act, pending the regulator's consideration of the matter. In light of the arguments presented, the Authority agreed to grant the said exemption.

In the opinion of the Competition Authority, the markets in which the merger had a particular impact were, on the one hand, the market for online media/online news provision and, on the other hand, the market for advertising in online media. The merger involved a horizontal merger, as neither of the merging parties is dominant in these markets, and it was therefore clear that the merger did not result in a strengthening of a dominant position that might otherwise have led to intervention. Furthermore, the merger did not result in the creation of a dominant position for one or more of the merging parties.

Following an investigation, the Competition Authority concluded that there was no indication that the merger between Pressan and DV would lead to a distortion of competition, pluralism or diversity in the relevant markets such that intervention was necessary. The Competition Authority therefore saw no grounds to intervene in the merger, either by annulling it or by imposing conditions.