Acquisition by Ferðaskrifstofu Íslands ehf. of the operations of Heimsferðir ehf.

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• Case number: 10/2022
• Date: 26/4/2022
• Company:
  • Heimsferðir ehf
  • Ferðaskrifstofa Íslands ehf.
• Sectors:
  • Transport and travel affairs
• Policy Area:
  • Mergers
• Summary

  The Icelandic Competition Authority cleared an acquisition of the operation of Heimsferðir by Ferðaskrifstofa Íslands, on the basis of a settlement reached by the merging parties with the Authority. With the settlement, the merged company undertakes to take measures that prevent barriers to competition that the merger would otherwise cause. The measures are as follows:

  1) The merged company undertakes to ensure its independence vis-à-vis the Icelandair Group, by fencing off trade between the companies, except in specified cases. Likewise, the ownership relationship between the merged company and Icelandair will be severed within a certain time limit and the exercise of voting rights will be fenced off until then.

  2) The merged company undertakes to give other travel agencies the opportunity to utilise seat availability on flights operated by the merged company by wholesale airline seats. In the settlement, these parties are referred to as "resellers". This gives competitors, and thereby consumers, the opportunity to enjoy the potential efficiencies that the merger may result from in the opinion of the merging parties. Travel agency operations operated by Icelandair do not enjoy these rights.Article