Bundeskartellamt clears takeover of Pelikan by Hamelin

Following intensive investigations the Bundeskartellamt has cleared the planned acquisition of the stationery manufacturer Pelikan (Pelikan Group GmbH, Berlin, and Pelikan PBS Produktionsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, Hannover) by the Hamelin Group (parent company: Holdham SAS, Hérouville-Saint-Clair, France).

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “In some market segments Pelikan and Hamelin have high combined market shares, which is why we conducted intensive investigations. Nevertheless the concentration could ultimately be cleared. The investigations showed that after the merger there will still be sufficient alternative options for retailers, and thus consumers, to choose products from other stationery manufacturers. Therefore, the merger is ultimately not expected to significantly impede effective competition.”

Both Pelikan and Hamelin manufacture paper products, office supplies and stationery and sell their products worldwide. However, their business activities largely focus on different product groups: In Germany, Hamelin mainly operates in the segments of notepads, writing pads, etc. and filing products (binder sleeves, textbook covers, folders, binders, suspension files) under its “Oxford”, “Landré” and “ELBA” brands, whereas Pelikan is mainly active in the areas of writing utensils ((school) fountain pens and other pens), accessories for writing utensils (ink, ink cartridges, ink erasers) as well as painting supplies and art and craft supplies (watercolour boxes, paint brushes, colouring and drawing pads) under the “Pelikan”, “Herlitz” and “SusyCard” brands. Hamelin also manufactures private label products which retailers sell under their own labels. Relevant overlaps in the business activities of the parties can be found in particular in the segments of (school) exercise books, pads, spiral stationery products as well as colouring and drawing pads.

In order to assess the effects of the planned merger on competition the Bundeskartellamt questioned a total of approx. 100 competitors and customers of the parties.

As the most important competitors in the segments affected in Germany, Baier & Schneider GmbH, Heilbronn, with its “Brunnen” brand, and the group consisting of Staufen Premium GmbH, Wurmlingen, and Format Werk GmbH, Gunskirchen (Austria), which owns the “Staufen” brand, also have a strong market position. In addition, there are also alternative manufacturers of private label products, some of them based abroad, which already supply German customers. The investigations have shown that Hamelin’s and Pelikan’s competitors have sufficient spare capacities to meet the demand of customers wishing to switch supplier. Even when taking into account the fact that the demand for school supplies spikes in the period leading up to the start of the school year, this is still the case.

Hamelin/Pelikan’s scope for action and setting prices is also limited by the fact that powerful players, such as the large food retail and drugstore chains, are active on the opposite side of the market.