On 20.05.2021 the Austrian Federal Competition Authority was notified by eBay Inc. and Adevinta ASA of two mergers (Z-5141 and Z-5142). The plan is for Adevinta ASA to acquire the whole online classifieds business of eBay Inc. and for eBay Inc. to acquire a non-controlling minority shareholding of more than 25% in Adevinta ASA in return.
Adevinta ASA holds shares in willhaben.at (willhaben internet service GmbH & Co KG) and shpock.at (finderly GmbH), while eBay Inc. is the parent company of the ebay.at marketplace.
The merger notifications relate to online classifieds services and online advertising.
The Competition and Markets Authority is also examining the merger in UK.
Objective of the online survey
As part of its merger examination, the AFCA is conducting an online market survey. The aim is to obtain a better understanding of the market as the basis for further analysis of the impact on competition.
A number of randomly selected users of Ebay.at, WillHaben.at and Sphock.at were sent an invitation to take part in the online survey.
AFCA powers
The AFCA is entitled to conduct market surveys in the course of its merger examination duties. To this end, it may process personal data where required to achieve its goals such as ensuring effective competition. All replies are kept strictly confidential and will only be used anonymously for statistical analysis purposes.