The Bundeskartellamt has cleared the planned acquisition by the Land Brandenburg of the hospital operation services of Carl-Thiem-Klinikum Cottbus gGmbH (CTK Cottbus). CTK Cottbus and its subsidiaries have so far been owned by the City of Cottbus.

The Land Brandenburg is acquiring CTK Cottbus with the intention of establishing a modern university clinic with research and teaching activities, thus strengthening academic medicine.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “There are no competition law concerns about the Land Brandenburg acquiring the hospital operation services of CTK Cottbus and subsequently developing CTK into a university clinic. Located in the south east of Brandenburg, CTK has very high market shares, with its only competitors being rather small and widely dispersed; however, there will be no addition of market shares as the Land Brandenburg has so far not been active itself in the hospital market.”

The German Länder have several roles in the hospital sector: they are the hospital planning authorities and, as provided for by law, provide funding for investments in all approved public hospitals, but they can also participate in the market themselves as owners of university clinics.

Andreas Mundt: “This combination of different responsibilities is not unproblematic from a regulatory point of view. The Länder therefore have to ensure that non-profit, private and municipal hospital operators are not indirectly placed at a disadvantage vis-à-vis university clinics.”