Weko approves OF/Thalia merger
Orell Füssli and Thalia can merge their book retailing businesses. The Weko has approved the merger.
At the beginning of March, the two announced the merger of the Swiss book retailing business of Orell Füssli Holding and Thalia Holding (Werbewoche.ch reported). The formation of the joint venture has been deemed unobjectionable by the Swiss Competition Authority Weko and can be completed without reservations. OF and Thalia wrote this in a statement on Wednesday.
The assessment of the merger by the competent authorities in Germany and Austria is still open. According to the statement, the parties will press ahead with the preparatory work so that the new company can commence business operations soon. With the joint venture, in which both partners hold a 50 percent stake, Thalia and Orell Füssli are responding to the massive upheaval in the book industry.
The merger of the book retailing activities in Switzerland is a decisive step towards surviving in the book market, according to the press release. In the rapidly growing online business, the forces could be bundled to stand up to the large international providers. Customers of the new company would also benefit from the latest developments in e-readers and e-books and from competitive prices. They will be able to buy their books from regionally based bookstores throughout German-speaking Switzerland or from the online bookshop of the same Swiss provider.
