Polish antitrust authorities probe Polska Press takeover of Media Regionalne

摘要

The Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection UOKiK (Urzad Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentow) doubts that Polska Press Sp.zo.o. fulfilled the requirements imposed upon the takeover of Media Regionalne Sp. z o.o., a regional newspaper publisher. In October 2013 the country's antitrust office consented to the acquisition provided that Polska Press, which belongs to German Verlagsgruppe Passau, sold the Dziennik Wschodni regional newspaper and the online activities appertaining thereto within one year, i.e., by October 2014. "We are currently analysing material collected during investigations performed at the headquarters of Polska Press, among others. We are verifying whether the company really complied with the instructions we imposed four years ago," said Marek Niechciał, UOKiK President, in an official press release. As part of a preliminary procedure the office is currently checking whether or not the company to which Polska Press sold the paper does not eventually belong to the publishing house's own trade structure. Should Polska Press have failed to comply with the conditions stipulated by the competition authority, the company faces fines of up to €10,000 per day of delay. The office of competition writes: "Moreover, it is possible to order a division of an undertaking which has arisen based on an agreement issued as a result of proven traders' deception."