Competition and Consumer Authority acted correctly in merger case

The district court in Aarhus has ruled in favour of the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority in a case relating to proceedings regarding the merger between Salling Group and the distributor of consumer electronics and appliances Wupti.com A/S.

In July 2015 the Competition and Consumer Authority approved the takeover of Wupti.com by Salling Group.

Salling Group originally submitted a draft of a so-called “simplified notification” of the merger to the Competition and Consumer Authority. Simplified notifications are reserved for mergers that may, in advance, be characterised as unproblematic.

The Competition and Consumer Authority decided that the information provided in the draft of the simplified notification was insufficient to establish that this was a merger that could be notified according to the simplified procedure. The Competition and Consumer Authority therefore asked for a full notification.

Subsequently Salling Group appealed the DCCA’s decision to the Competition Appeals Tribunal. However, in April 2015 the Competition Appeals Tribunal ruled in favour of the DCCA.

Salling Group brought this decision before the district court in Aarhus and it is in this case that the court has now made its ruling.