The French Competition Authority (“FCA”) has cleared the acquisition of Nocibé, a perfume and cosmetics retailer, by Douglas (a subsidiary of Advent) subject to important structural remedies. The French Competition Authority identified 32 local areas where competitors would not be able to exert sufficient competitive pressure on the new organization and imposed the divesture of several directly-owned shops and the termination of a number of franchise contracts.
A CRA team advised a competitor of the parties to the merger throughout the proceedings. CRA has in particular produced a detailed economic analysis of the competitive pressure exerted between the different perfumery chains and of competition issues by geographical areas. The local areas in which the FCA imposed remedies correspond to those in which CRA’s report identified competitive concerns.
