The Competition Council, the government body tasked with protecting and stimulating competition in Romania, announced on Thursday, April 2, that it has authorized Cargus’ takeover by courier company Sameday. The latter is owned by the company that operates eMag, Romania’s largest online commerce platform.
The acquisition unites two major courier companies in Romania.
Following its analysis, the competition authority identified a series of competitive concerns. The first pertains to Cargus’ ongoing contracts. Other concerns are about the consolidation of Sameday’s locker network, the risks generated by Sameday’s belonging to the eMAG group for other courier companies, as well as the risk of potential access by eMAG to sensitive commercial information of its competitors.
To eliminate these concerns, Sameday has committed to a set of obligations. For example, it promised to fully maintain the commercial conditions provided in the contracts concluded by Cargus with its clients for a period of 12 months from the date of issuance of the authorization decision.
However, this will not affect the right to unilaterally terminate ongoing contracts, with a notice period of at least three months, in situations where they no longer maintain economic balance and generate significant negative effects on its activity, under certain conditions.
Moreover, Sameday agreed to transfer the locker segment operated by Cargus to a suitable buyer. The measure aims at the separation and full transfer of the lockers operated by Cargus, so that the new operator can function as an autonomous and viable entity. The transfer will not include intellectual property rights or assets that are not necessary for carrying out the activity.
In addition, eMAG will publish a transparent and non-discriminatory procedure regarding courier access to the eMAG Marketplace platform.
“This will include clear access and integration criteria, communication and information rules, objective criteria for order allocation (such as cost, delivery times, territorial coverage, and operational efficiency), uniform performance indicators, and general rules of interaction between eMAG employees and couriers,” said the competition authority in a press release.
To remove any possible ambiguities, Sameday agreed to inform clients, within two months from the completion of the transaction, that information of a confidential nature should not be included in the fields associated with the AWB.
The company will also implement and extend internal compliance procedures to prevent the transmission to eMAG of sensitive commercial information of clients who are its competitors.
Compliance with the commitments will be monitored, for a period of up to three years, by an independent trustee, who will periodically submit reports to the Competition Council.
(Photo source: Facebook/Sameday)
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