The Lithuanian Competition Council imposed a EUR 140,000 fine on the Estonian media holding company “Ekspress Grupp” for violating competition rules by purchasing the news portal “Lrytas”, however, the Estonian group has decided to contest the fine imposed by the Lithuanian regulator in court.
The Competition Council of Lithuania published a decision on Friday in which it was concluded that “Ekspress Grupp” was obliged to obtain the permission of the regulator before taking over “Lrytas”, but did not do so. The Lithuanian Competition Council fined “Ekspress Grupp” EUR 140,460 for the violation, as well as the obligation to correct the situation.
“Ekspress Grupp” board chairwoman Mari Līsa Rītsalu announced that the group does not agree with the decision of the Lithuanian Competition Council and will challenge it in court.
She insisted that the regulation existing in Lithuania stipulates that the permission of the Competition Council for a takeover transaction is required if the turnover of “Lrytas” exceeds 20 million euros per year. “The essence of the dispute is about the interpretation of the geographical distribution of Lrytas’ turnover before the transaction in accordance with Lithuanian legislation,” explained the head of “Ekspress Grupp”, adding that the complaint was submitted to the Lithuanian Competition Council by the competing Lithuanian portal “15min”.
In the assessment of the Competition Council, permission must also be obtained for transactions in which the revenues of each participant in Lithuania exceed two million euros per year. “Ekspress Grupp” expressed its belief that revenues from buyers of advertising space registered in foreign countries cannot be considered as revenues obtained in Lithuania.
Meanwhile, the competition watchdog insisted that the fact where the competition takes place is important in the calculation of revenue, not where the buyer of advertising space is registered.
If the decision of the Lithuanian Competition Council comes into effect, “Ekspress Grupp” will have to apply and get the regulator’s permission for the transaction or sell the company that manages the “lrytas.lt” portal.
At the end of 2022, “Ekspress Grupp” and the publisher of Lithuania’s largest newspaper “Lietuvos rytas” agreed on the takeover of 100% of “Lrytas”, the manager of the news portal “lrytas.lt”. Founded in 2006, “lrytas.lt” offers news in Lithuanian and English.
Before the transaction, 36% of “Lrytas” belonged to the company “big Group” controlled by Ben Gudel, 26.5% – to Gedvīdas Vainauskas, 13.2% – to Vidmantas Strimaiti, and the rest to smaller owners.
“Ekspress Grupp” concern includes portals “Delfi” and Internet advertising company “Digital Matter” in all three Baltic countries, Estonian daily newspapers “Eesti Paevaleht” and “Ohtuleht”, weekly newspapers “Eesti Ekspress” and “Maaleht”, book publishing company ” Hea Lugu”, supplier of press releases “Ekspress Post”, Latvian online ticket dealer “Biļešu paradīze” and other companies.
The largest shareholders of “Ekspress Grupp” are Estonian businessman Hans Luiks (26% of shares) and his company “HHL Ruhm” (47% of shares). “Ekspress Grupp” shares are listed on the official list of the Tallinn Stock Exchange.
“Delphi” also follows Instagram or YouTube in the profile – join to find out the most important and interesting things first! The content of the publication or any part of it is a protected copyright object in the sense of the Copyright Law, and its use without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. Read more here
2023-12-22 02:47:08
#Competition #Council #Lithuania #fines #Ekspress #Grupp #takeover #lrytas.lt
