Rewe can acquire Lekkerland – Bundeskartellamt clears merger

Today the Bundeskartellamt has cleared the acquisition by the Rewe Group of Lekkerland AG & Co. KG.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “Together Rewe and Lekkerland only achieve an unproblematic market share of less than 10 % in the food wholesale market. In terms of different customer groups the parties are together by far the strongest supplier in the supply of petrol stations and other convenience stores, especially kiosks. However the parties’ scope for action and setting prices is limited by the strong buyer power of the large oil companies. Small and medium-sized petrol station operators also have sufficient alternative suppliers, e.g. suppliers of individual product categories. We have very carefully examined the procurement side in view of the high level of concentration in the food retail sector. After Edeka, Rewe, along with the Schwarz Group, is one of the three largest buyers from manufacturers and suppliers for the food retail and wholesale trade in Germany. However, its increase in market power following the acquisition of Lekkerland is marginal at less than 0.5 %.”

The Lekkerland Group specialises in the wholesale supply of petrol stations and kiosks with tobacco products, food and a range of non-food items tailored to these specific customer groups. In 2018 its turnover amounted to approx. 3 billion euros in Germany and 5 billion euros in Europe. The Rewe Group is a cooperative which is active in the food trade and tourism sectors and in 2018 achieved a turnover of 37 billion euros in Germany and 52 billion euros in Europe. Following a test phase Rewe has supplied Aral petrol stations since 2016, partially under its Rewe To Go concept.

On 8 July 2019 the European Commission, which was the competent authority to examine the merger project, referred it to the Bundeskartellamt at the parties’ request as far as markets in Germany were concerned. A partial referral was made to the Austrian competition authority (Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde) because the merger also affected markets in Austria. The Commission cleared Rewe’s acquisition of Lekkerland in other countries (in particular Spain, Portugal, Benelux) on 7 August 2019.

The Bundeskartellamt already started its investigations on 8 July when the case was referred to the authority. The authority issued official requests for information to more than 120 competitors, suppliers and customers of the parties to the merger and held numerous discussions with market participants and trade associations, allowing all stakeholders ample scope for comment. The merger project was finally notified to the Bundeskartellamt on 9 September 2019.

In examining market power on the procurement side the Bundeskartellamt also took into account that Lekkerland as a wholesaler has to be able to offer a wide range of goods for its customers to choose from. The petrol station chains retain the right of choice. The right to choose which products are placed on the shelves at petrol stations thus generally lies with the oil companies.

Further information on this proceeding is available (in German) in a case summary on our website.