IP/06/1245
Brussels, 22nd September 2006
Mergers: Commission approves proposed acquisition of ALL3Media by Permira The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of All3Media Group, the UK TV production and distribution company, by Permira Holdings, an international private equity firm. After examining the operation, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it. Permira controls private equity investment funds. The only company which is active in pay TV and free TV broadcasting, radio and advertising and over which Permira has - joint - control, is SBS Broadcasting (“SBS”). All3Media is active in independent TV production, distribution of television programmes and talent management and conducts its business mainly in the UK.
The Commission’s examination of the proposed transaction showed a few overlaps between the activities of SBS and All3Media in some European countries, in which their business is rather complementary in terms of input supply and distribution. In particular, the Commission examined the Dutch and the Swedish markets for possible competition concerns. It found that potential closing off of markets would be unlikely due to the fact that there are several strong, effective competitors with significant market shares present in these markets.
