Germany: Gruner + Jahr rebuffed

The magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr (G + J) may not take over the German edition of the US magazine classic National Geographic in its entirety. This was decided by the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) for antitrust reasons. G + J currently publishes the magazine together with the Spanish publisher RBA Publicaciones Internacionales, but also wanted to take over the latter's 50 percent share. The BGH prohibited this because the Hamburg-based publisher would thereby expand its dominant market position. In 2003, Gruner + Jahr (Geo, P.M) had a market share of 75 percent in the reader market for popular knowledge magazines. With Geo and National Geographic alone, G + J already has a market share of almost 50 percent.