Douglas can acquire Parfümerie Akzente

The Bundeskartellamt has cleared the merger between Douglas and Parfümerie Akzente. Douglas is part of the CVC group and operates 456 perfumery stores in Germany as well as an online shop under the same name. Parfümerie Akzente operates 27 stores and the online shop parfumdreams. Whilst Douglas is the leading perfumery company in Germany, Akzente holds a prominent market position in online sales.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: "As in other areas of retail, in the sale of perfumery products we are witnessing an increasing blend between online and offline shopping experiences. Sales over the internet are becoming more and more important for many retailers. With its acquisition of Parfümerie Akzente, Douglas's market share of online sales will increase considerably. Nevertheless the scope of action of the merged company will continue to be sufficiently limited by strong competitors."

The merger project mainly affects the market for the sale of prestige perfumery products. These high-priced products with their distinguishable product presentation are normally available for sale in perfumery stores or the perfumery sections of department stores. Manufacturers mainly sell products of their prestige product line using selective distribution systems (via so-called "selective distribution contracts" with authorised dealers). According to the authority's investigations, however, non-authorised retailers can also buy original products in large quantities, especially on the so-called "grey market".

The Bundeskartellamt did not have to determine whether the offline and online sale of perfumery products now constitute a single market under competition law because the merger would also have had to be cleared if both markets had been treated as separate markets. Post merger the parties' combined market share of the online sale of prestige perfumery products in Germany will be less than 35%, whereas with its own retail business their competitor, Amazon, will have a market share of up to 15%. Other important competitors of the parties are Flaconi and Notino. A large number of third party retailers use Amazon Marketplace, generating a sales volume of up to 30%. Taking all these considerations into account, the merger will not significantly impede effective competition.

The combined share of turnover achieved by Douglas and Parfümerie Akzente in the offline sales of prestige perfumery products in Germany is approx. 25-30%. However, the Bundeskartellamt bases its assessment of the offline distribution segment on local market areas. Akzente's 27 brick-and-mortar stores are mainly located in southern Germany. The merger will not significantly impede effective competition in these market areas, either, because post merger there will be sufficient competitor stores including Kaufhof, Karstadt, Drogeriemarkt Müller and several local perfumery stores. The drugstore chains dm and Rossmann will also exert competitive pressure on the merged company. Some of the markets concerned have an annual turnover of less than 15 million euros, which is below the statutory threshold for prohibiting a merger.