NMa approves acquisition of newspaper AD by Dutch media company PCM
The Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa) has allowed Dutch media company PCM Holding B.V. (PCM) to buy out the stake of Dutch media company Wegener Nederland B.V. (Wegener) in AD Nieuwsmedia B.V. (ADN). ADN was created in 2005 by PCM and Wegener for publishing Dutch newspaper AD. The buy-out will result in PCM having full control over AD.
The NMa believes that this acquisition will not lead to an impediment to competition, despite the strong combined position of ADN and PCM in a number of areas in the Randstad, the densely populated urbanized area in the western part of the Netherlands. However, the competitive pressure that the PCM newspapers exert on AD – and vice versa – is limited. It is therefore unlikely that, with the acquisition, PCM will be able to profitably push through a price increase or a reduction of the quality of AD.
When asked for possible alternatives for AD, current, potential and former AD subscribers seem to prefer national newspaper De Telegraaf (for subscribers in the Randstad region) or a regional newspaper (for subscribers outside the Randstad region) over the other PCM newspapers. De Telegraaf and the regional newspapers target the same audience as AD does, which is different from the audience of (the other PCM newspapers) de Volkskrant and Trouw. In addition, prices of AD and De Telegraaf are significantly lower than those of de Volkskrant and Trouw, thereby possibly masking the true position of De Telegraaf as AD's biggest competitor since that position may be much stronger in reality than what the reader preferences' survey appears to indicate it to be. The survey also revealed that, in case of a price increase or a quality reduction, the number of AD readers that would switch to de Volkskrant and/or Trouw is very small. Finally, it is more likely that the free daily newspapers would exert more competitive pressure on AD than, for example, de Volkskrant or NRC Handelsblad (another Dutch newspaper) would.
With regard to offering advertising space, the NMa does not see any competition concerns either. Also, the NMa does not see any problems as a result of the acquisition of the printing business of Wegener NieuwsDruk B.V. in The Hague by PCM.
On July 1st, 2009, the NMa approved the related merger of PCM by Belgian media company De Persgroep N.V. under the condition that PCM newspapers NRC Handelsblad and nrc.next would be hived off. As regulatory body, the NMa keeps an eye on this divestment process.
The public version of the decision will be published on the NMa's website after a confidentiality check (www.acm.nl).