By its unanimous Decision No. 800/2022, the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) approved today, under Greek merger control rules, the proposed acquisition of sole control by " DIAMANTIS MASOUTIS SA – SUPER MARKETS" over several super market stores of "AFOI DENAKSA LTD”, according to article 6 par. 1 to 3 of law 3959/2011, in the Greek super markets sector.

The relevant markets for the merger in question are the retail market for consumer goods of daily use which are distributed through hypermarkets, supermarkets, mini markets and discount stores and the supply market which concerns the upstream market of the distribution of supermarket items and includes the sale of supermarket items from producers/suppliers to buyers/retailers, such as wholesale or retail trade businesses and other businesses (such as HO.RE.CA.), nationwide.

For the purposes of the merger, in order to fully examine the competition conditions, a further segmentation of the relevant geographic market was made regarding the retail sale of supermarket items at local level and specifically within a radius of up to 10 minutes by car for urban areas and up to 30 minutes by car for semi-urban areas. Specifically were identified two local markets in which the horizontal overlaps may have raised concerns for the prefecture of Attica, the area of ​​Palaio Faliro, where a retail store is acquired, as well as in the island of Thira (Santorini), where three retail stores of "AFOI DENAXA LTD" are acquired, while buyer "Diamantis Masoutis SA-SUPERMARKET" has a presence in these areas.

According to the Decision, in the said local markets, both in the area of ​​Palaio Faliro and within the island of Thira, there exists effective competition, both from large nationwide retail chains and from local businesses, as strong competitive pressures are exerted in the aforementioned markets and  thus, consumers as well as suppliers have alternatives to choose from.

Therefore, the HCC approved, according to article 8 par. 3 of law 3959/2011, the notified merger concerning the change of control, given that, this merger, despite falling within its scope of paragraph 1 of article 6 of law 3959/2011, does not cause serious doubts, as to its compatibility with the requirements of competition in the related markets.