76 U MERGER IN THE HARD-DISCOUNT SECTOR Clearance decision subject to conditions for the acquisition of Leader Price by Aldi The Autorité examined a prominent merger in the area of mass food retail distribution in France. Following its analysis, the Autorité cleared the acquisition of 554 Leader Price stores and 2 Casino stores by Aldi, subject to the divestiture of 9 of them, in order to avoid risks of harm to competition in these catchment areas. A TRANSACTION REFERRED TO THE AUTORITÉ BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION As the transaction had a European dimen- sion, it needed in principle to be examined by the European Commission. Given the natio- nal impact of the transaction and the Autori- the transaction was unlikely to significantly diversity of products available to the consu- té’s experience in examining mergers in this increase Aldi’s purchasing power with res- mer, given the parties’ combined market sector, the Commission decided to refer the pect to suppliers. Further, after consulting share (more than 40%), or to the establish- case to the Autorité in June 2020, conside- with Aldi and Leader Price’s suppliers (as part ment of a duopoly in the area. ring that it is best placed to scrutinise this of a market test), the Autorité found that the acquisition. transaction does not place these suppliers in a situation of economic dependency on Aldi committed to divesting itself On 5 October 2020, Aldi notified the Auto- the new entity. of 9 stores rité of its plans to acquire assets owned by To resolve these competition concerns, the Casino Group, including 54 Leader Price Aldi committed to sell nine Aldi or Leader stores (of nearly 640 stores under the brand Too much concentration Price stores in these areas to one or more in mainland France) and 2 Casino stores. downstream of its competitors. This will ensure that ade- As a result of its analysis, the Autorité quate competition is maintained and to pro- Aldi and Leader Price are both hard discount nonetheless identified a risk to competi- tect consumers’ interests in the markets in food retail chains. Aldi has 883 stores in tion in the catchment areas of the Leader question. France. Price stores in Argentière-la-Bessée (05), The potential buyers will have to be appro- Bar-sur-Seine (10), Bort-les-Orgues (19), ved by the Autorité, which will satisfy itself Brassac-les-Mines (63), Lanton (33), Marle that they are in a position to provide a cre- No competition concerns relating (02), Rambervillers (88), Saint-Félix (74) and dible alternative offer in the food retail mar- to the supply market Sézanne (51). ket in each of the areas in question. Given that the share of the French market In these areas, the transaction was likely to owned by Aldi and Leader Price combined is have a negative effect on competition, and Decision 20-DCC-164 of relatively small, the Autorité considered that could lead to price increases or reduce the 17 November 2020 T I O N • M A S S R E T A I L D I S T R I B U T I O N • M A S S R TROPER LAUNNA 0202 – erutuf evitisop erom a gniretsoF E A I L D S T R I B