Germany: Regulator clears merger between Papyrus Deutschland and Papier Union

The Bundeskartellamt has cleared the acquisition of Papyrus Deutschland by Papier Union’s mother company, Inapa Group, in second phase proceedings. The wholesalers in paper, Papier Union and Papyrus Deutschland, are active throughout Germany.

Papyrus Deutschland, based in Ettlingen, is a German subsidiary of OptiGroup AB, Sweden. It is active on several paper wholesale markets in Germany and primarily sells commercial printing and office paper. Papier Union in Cologne is a subsidiary of the Portuguese company Inapa Investimentos Participações e Gestão and also operates in Germany as a paper wholesaler with a wide range of products.

The paper wholesale sector covers several product markets because several paper categories and customer groups have their own conditions of competition. The merger primarily affects the sale of commercial printing paper. Higher quality paper is generally used for commercial printing paper, which enables particularly clear and perfect printing.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt said, “We were able to clear the merger in spite of the high market shares of the companies. It is clear from our investigations that customers already buy from different wholesalers and can switch between them thanks to the similar ranges of products and usually short contract periods. Post merger there will still be enough alternatives for customers to for example react to any possible price increases. Furthermore, the wholesalers will be exposed to competitive pressure from possible direct sales from the paper manufacturers.”