The Office Clears Acquisition of the MAFRA Publishing House by AGROFERT Holding
AGROFERT Holding comprises manufacturing and trading companies in the Czech Republic and abroad which are active in agriculture, food and chemical industry, as well as in the field of trade in agricultural machinery and equipment for agricultural production, in forestry and also in the field of publishing, through a subsidiary company AGF Media.
MAFRA Company was controlled by the German publishing house Rheinisch-Bergische Verlagsgesellschaft mbH. MAFRA deals mainly with the publishing national daily newspapers Mlada fronta DNES and Lidove noviny. MAFRA Group also publishes free daily newspaper METRO and non-periodical magazines and operates Internet news websites metro.cz, lidovky.cz and especially iDNES.cz. Other activities offered by MAFRA Group are printing production, telecommunication services, etc.
The Office assessed the impact of the merger on the areas of publishing periodicals, providing advertising space in periodicals, Internet news and Internet advertising.
In the area of publishing periodicals, the Office concluded that the activities of the merging companies do not overlap as the published periodicals of both groups are of different type. While MAFRA Group focuses on provision of information about current situation in the Czech Republic and abroad (through publishing national daily newspapers), AGF Media Group provides more commentated news, not of the current character, in the regions of the Czech Republic (through 71 regional/district weekly newspapers 5plus2).
In the area of provision of advertising space, the Office regarded the difference between the advertising in national newspapers and advertising focused on regional readers, as it is in the case of weekly newspapers 5plus2. Also in the areas of on-line news and advertising, the Office did not see the risk of a distortion of the competition.
In the areas where the horizontal overlap of activities of the AGROFERT and MAFRA Groups occurs, the increased market share of the merged company will not exceed 25%. Pursuant to the Act on the Protection of Competition, the risk of a distortion of competition is not expected below this threshold. In case of the narrower definition of the relevant markets of publishing periodicals and provision of advertising space in periodicals, the activities of merging companies do not overlap at all.
The Office has cleared the merger as it will not result in the significant distortion of the competition in the assessed areas.
International and External Relations of the Office
2026-10-01 / The Office Imposed Record Fine of Nearly CZK 2 billion for Cartel Agreement among Cable Manufacturers The Office for the Protection of Competition (the Office) imposed fines totalling CZK 1,942,000,000 on four companies operating in the cable manufacturing and sales sector for a cartel agreement. One...
2026-09-24 / Pet Food Distributor Fined CZK 36 million Plaček Pet Products s.r.o., a distributor of premium pet food and pet supplies, was fined CZK 36.438 million by the Office for the Protection of Competition (the Office). From 17 January 2013 to 3 March...
2026-09-17 / Lesy ČR banned wood-chip exports and were imposed a fine of more than CZK 17 million The Office for the Protection of Competition (hereinafter referred to as the "Office") imposed a fine of CZK 17.268 million on the state-owned company Lesy ČR (Forests of the Czech Republic) for violating...
2026-09-11 / Pegasus Cleared to Acquire Czech Airlines, Office for the Protection of Competition Approved the Merger Subject to Conditions The Office for the Protection of Competition (the Office) has approved the acquisition of Czech Airlines (České aerolinie a.s.) — and subsequently the airline Smartwings — by the Turkish group...
2026-08-26 / Fines exceeding CZK 280 million imposed on O2 Czech Republic and SHERLOG Technology for cartel agreement SHERLOG Technology, a.s. and O2 Czech Republic a.s. (hereinafter referred to as “SHERLOG” and “O2”) entered into a cartel agreement in the area of vehicle and other means of transport monitoring...
2026-08-17 / Chairman of the Czech Competition Authority Definitively Confirms Fines for Meal Voucher Issuers’ Cartel Meal voucher issuers Pluxee Česká republika a.s., Edenred CZ s.r.o., and Up Česká republika s.r.o. are required to pay fines totalling CZK 279,152,000. The decision has now been definitively confirmed...
2026-06-30 / Annual Report 2025: CZK 500 Million in Antitrust Fines and Complex Public Procurement Cases The Czech Office for the Protection of Competition has published its annual report, summarising the results of its activities in 2025. In addition to protecting competition, the Office is responsible...
2026-05-06 / HP Tronic Faces Nearly CZK 40 Million Fine for Dictating Prices to Retailers The Office for the Protection of Competition has imposed a fine of CZK 38,971,000 on HP TRONIC Zlín, spol. s r.o. (hereinafter “HP TRONIC”), for entering into prohibited agreements restricting competition...