Bundeskartellamt clears takeover of SiNN GmbH by the Peek & Cloppenburg group (Düsseldorf)

The Bundeskartellamt has cleared plans by JC Switzerland Holding AG to take over SiNN GmbH, which is currently undergoing insolvency proceedings. JC Switzerland Holding AG belongs to the Peek & Cloppenburg group (P&C, Düsseldorf). Peek&Cloppenburg KG in Hamburg is a different, independent group of companies which operates under the name “Peek&Cloppenburg” and is not involved in the merger project examined by the authority.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “At the national level Peek & Cloppenburg has a leading position in the brick-and-mortar textile retail sector. This applies in particular to men’s outerwear, a segment in which P&C also operates under the ‘Anson’s’ brand. The takeover of SiNN GmbH could allow P&C to further increase its market share in some cities where both companies have stores. However, our investigations have shown that even without taking into account the role of online retailing, consumers will have sufficient alternative options offered by other large multi-brand stores, and also by many smaller multi-brand retailers, the brand stores of large manufacturers and stores operated by vertically integrated fashion chains.”

The investigation had to take into account that not all consumers consider the vertically integrated fashion chains (for example H&M, Zara, C&A) to be an alternative option, so that these companies can in any event not be seen as close competitors of the parties to the merger.

The Peek & Cloppenburg group focuses on textile retailing and operates 69 stores in Germany. SiNN GmbH is a pure brick-and-mortar business with 35 stores in Germany. The merger is likely to result in competitively significant overlaps with regard to women’s and, in particular, men’s outerwear clothing in a number of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia and the Rhine-Main region.

The authority also had to consider that end customers based in the market areas of small and medium-sized cities often and extensively use the alternative shopping options offered by textile retailers in major cities nearby (Frankfurt, Cologne, Essen, Dortmund). Furthermore, the competitive pressure exerted by the online retail business also had to be taken into account. Online retailers such as Zalando or the Otto Group (with About You, for example), which are among the largest textile retailers in Germany, play an even more important role than P&C and direct sales by many manufacturers. In view of this, the merger could already be cleared in the first phase of merger control.