Weko examines takeover of Ricardo Group in greater depth

However, as Tamedia is not yet active in the core business of the Ricardo Group and in view of the intense competition in the markets for e-commerce as well as free classifieds, the Swiss media group continues to assume that the competition authority will give its approval, according to a statement. A decision is expected in the fall. Tamedia's acquisition of the Ricardo Group was announced in February (Werbewoche.ch reported). The media company had prevailed in the bidding war against Ringier, among others, and was awarded the contract by the South African previous owner Naspers. The Ricardo Group operates the online platforms Ricardo.ch and Ricardoshops.ch, the vehicle platform Autoricardo.ch and the classifieds platform Olx.ch.

According to the Weko opinion, there are indications that this acquisition will create or strengthen a dominant position in the area of job classified ads. In addition, there are indications that a collective market dominance of Tamedia/Ricardo and Ringier will arise in the area of vehicle classified ads in German-speaking Switzerland.

With Jobcloud, Tamedia operates several Internet portals in the area of job classified ads. Jobcloud includes Jobs.ch and Jobup.ch, among others. Tamedia and Ringier each hold 50 percent of the capital in Jobcloud. Ricardo is also active in this area with Olx.ch. Because Jobcloud already has a strong position today, there are indications, according to the Weko, that Jobcloud may already have a dominant market position. In addition, the proposed acquisition would lead to a concentration of two large providers of vehicle platforms, which together cover most of the market, the Commission writes. For these reasons, the Weko will now examine in more depth how the proposed takeover will affect competition in these areas. (pd/hae)