Woolworths Group PLC and Bertram Group Limited A report on the completed acquisition by Woolworths Group PLC of Bertram Group Limited 4 September 2007 © Competition Commission 2007 Website: www.competition-commission.org.uk Members of the Competition Commission who conducted this inquiry Diana Guy (Chairman of the Group) Ivar Grey Richard Taylor Professor Michael Waterson Chief Executive and Secretary of the Competition Commission Martin Stanley The Competition Commission has excluded from this published version of the report information which the inquiry group considers should be excluded having regard to the three considerations set out in section 244 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (specified information: considerations relevant to disclosure). The omissions are indicated by . Acquisition by Woolworths Group PLC of Bertram Group Limited Contents Page Summary................................................................................................................................. 3 Findings .................................................................................................................................. 8 1. The reference.................................................................................................................... 8 2. Industry background and the parties................................................................................. 8 Industry background.......................................................................................................... 8 Parties in the book industry .......................................................................................... 9 Book supply: wholesalers and distributors ................................................................. 14 Sources of supply to retailers ..................................................................................... 16 Ordering systems ....................................................................................................... 17 New technology.......................................................................................................... 18 The parties ...................................................................................................................... 18 Woolworths Group PLC.............................................................................................. 18 EUK ............................................................................................................................ 19 THE ............................................................................................................................ 20 Bertram Group Limited ............................................................................................... 20 3. The merger......................................................................................................................20 Outline of merger situation.............................................................................................. 21 The rationale for the merger............................................................................................ 21 Restructuring post-merger.......................................................................................... 22 Undertakings................................................................................................................... 22 Jurisdiction ...................................................................................................................... 22 4. Pre-merger competition in the market............................................................................. 23 Competition in the supply of books to retailers ............................................................... 23 Structure of supply ..................................................................................................... 23 Pricing in the supply of books..................................................................................... 26 Competition in the supply of books to retailers........................................................... 31 Competition between wholesalers and direct supply ................................................. 33 Competition between the wholesalers........................................................................ 39 Competition in the wholesale supply of books to libraries............................................... 42 Purchasing ................................................................................................................. 43 5. The counterfactual .......................................................................................................... 45 Bertram ........................................................................................................................... 45 EUK/THE.........................................................................................................................46 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................47 6. Market definition.............................................................................................................. 47 Product market................................................................................................................ 47 Geographic market.......................................................................................................... 49 Conclusions on market definition .................................................................................... 49 7. Effects of the merger....................................................................................................... 49 Unilateral effects on competition in the wholesale supply of books to retailers .............. 50 Impact of THE as a competitor................................................................................... 51 Economies of scale in wholesaling............................................................................. 52 Direct supply............................................................................................................... 52 Rivalry with Gardners ................................................................................................. 53 Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 54 Discrimination in the supply of books to retailers ....................................................... 54 Residual monopolist ................................................................................................... 60 Other potential competitive constraints ...................................................................... 62 Supply of books to supermarkets ............................................................................... 63 Supply of books to school suppliers ........................................................................... 63 1 Summary of potential for unilateral effects ................................................................. 64 Coordinated effects in the wholesale supply of books to retailers .................................. 65 Vertical effects................................................................................................................. 66 Effect on competition in the wholesale supply of books to libraries ................................ 67 Provisional conclusions on the SLC test......................................................................... 68 Appendices A: Terms of reference and conduct of the inquiry B: Distributors C: Book ordering systems and the returns process D: Financial background E: Evolution of sales from wholesalers to independent retailers over time Glossary 2 Summary 1. On 3 April 2007 the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) referred the completed acquisition of Bertram Group Limited (Bertram) by Woolworths Group PLC (Woolworths) to the Competition Commission (CC) for investigation and report. The reference was made under section 22 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (the Act). We are required to publish our final report by 17 September 2007. 2. Woolworths was formed in August 2001 following demerger from Kingfisher plc. Woolworths has both retail and wholesale operations. Its principal business activities are in the UK retail sector, and its stores stock a narrow range of books. Woolworths’ book wholesale operations are handled through its subsidiaries Entertainment UK Limited (EUK) and Total Home Entertainment Distribution Limited (THE). EUK operates as an in-house distributor of home entertainment products (HEPs—CDs, DVDs, video games and consoles etc) and books to Woolworths’ retail business, but it also supplies books to various supermarket customers. THE was acquired by Woolworths in September 2006; it operates in the wholesale distribution of HEPs, books and some accessories. Its contracts to supply books to supermarkets were transferred to EUK following the acquisition and it now supplies books to a variety of non-supermarket customers. 3. Bertram originated as a family-run business set-up in 1968, which grew to become a national book wholesaler. Bertram’s primary activities are acting as a wholesaler through its Bertram Books division, and as a library supplier through Bertram Library Services (BLS). 4. On 11 October 2006, Bertram advised EUK that a sale process for the business was underway. EUK entered into exclusive negotiations with Bertram on 31 December 2006, and it acquired sole control of