Merger of Car Dealers in České Budějovice Approved Subject to Conditions Consisting of KIA Car Service Centre Divesture
CB Auto operates primarily in the retail sale of new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles of the Škoda, Volkswagen, Seat, Cupra, Mazda, and KIA brands, as well as their authorized servicing and related sales of spare parts and accessories, and the sale of used vehicles.
AUTO FUTURE is active in the retail sale of new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles of the KIA, Fiat, Jeep, Alfa Romeo, Dodge, and Ram brands, their authorized servicing and the related sale of spare parts and accessories, as well as the sale of used vehicles.
The concentration was originally notified under the simplified procedure; however, the Office requested additional information and subsequently reviewed the transaction in the standard procedure. After the preliminary assessment of the case, the Office detected serious concerns about a significant distortion of competition that could be caused by the concentration in question as the undertaking resulting from the merger would have a strong market power in the market for servicing KIA passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in the South Bohemian Region. In response, the party to the proceedings proposed commitments, which the Office recognized as sufficient to maintain effective competition in the relevant market.
The commitments consist, among other things, in CB Auto having to sell, within a period set by the Office, part of the business of AUTO FUTURE, which provides authorized servicing of KIA passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. The party to the proceedings shall transfer the car service in question to an entity that will not be connected to it in any way in terms of ownership, finance, or personnel. Further details will be provided in the public version of the decision, which will be available in the collection of the Office´s decisions after the removal of confidential information.
As sufficient commitments were proposed, the decision on the merger was issued in the so-called first phase of the proceedings.
Press Unit of the Office for the Protection of Competition
25/180 – S0485/2025
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...