Over the past two years, the Competition Council (CC) of Latvia examined 32 mergers and six notified cooperation agreements within a total of 24 industries, thus, affecting the competition development in a segment of the economy of 3.8 billion. The CC drew such conclusions after analysing situation in markets in which the authority examined mergers and notified agreements in 2014 and 2015.
After examining merger and notified cooperation agreement notifications, the CC did not detect any possible damage to the competition and, thus, approved all planned operations of undertakings. Based on the number of undertakings involved, the financial impact and the total number of cases, the most affected markets in 2014 and 2015 were fuel retail and the market of milk processing and cheese production.
Mostly, mergers have been related to strengthening the competitiveness and efficiency improvements, while notified agreements – rising the quality of services provided additionally and promotion of customer loyalty.
Due to the recent trends and market structure, the CC foresees a further consolidation in the fuel retail, between manufacturing undertakings, as well as in retail.
Overview on the market situation (in Latvian)
For media inquiries:
Inita Kabanova
Head of Communication Division
The Competition Council of Latvia
E-mail: inita.kabanova@kp.gov.lv
Ph: +371 67365210; Mob: +371 20219048