The Competition Protection Agency (AZTN) has deemed the concentration resulting from the acquisition of control of Mercator-H d.o.o. over Getro d.d. to be permissible. Following this concentration, Mercator’s total market share in the retail market for mixed goods in Croatia will be less than 10 percent.
According to the statement, Mercator will increase its market share in the retail market to between 20 and 30 percent in the areas of the City of Zagreb, Karlovac County, Istria County, and Dubrovnik-Neretva County. In the areas of Brod-Posavina, Varaždin, and Split-Dalmatia Counties, its market share will be between 10 and 20 percent, while in the areas of Primorje-Gorski Kotar, Osijek-Baranja, Sisak-Moslavina, and Bjelovar-Bilogora Counties, Mercator will have less than 10 percent market share. In the wholesale market for mixed goods, predominantly food, beverages, and household hygiene products, after the implementation of the concentration, Mercator will be represented with 5 to 10 percent.
This concentration pertains to markets characterized by openness and dynamism, freedom of access, and the absence of significant barriers to market entry, states the Agency’s announcement. It also notes that “a large number of competitive entrepreneurs operate in the Croatian retail market, and this concentration is part of the consolidation and aggregation process that typically follows periods of ‘new entries’ during market opening and liberalization, taking into account the economic crisis when, due to falling demand and trade turnover and worsening business conditions, some entrepreneurs are even forced to exit the market.”
