Germany

[DE] Springer Appeals Against Ban

IRIS 2006-4:1/16

Alexander Scheuer

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

Axel Springer AG has appealed to the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf Court of Appeal - OLG) against the decision of the Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Authority) to prohibit Springer's takeover ofProSiebenSat.1 Media AG (see IRIS 2006-2: 9). According to the appellant, the purpose of the appeal is to obtain the necessary legal certainty for future acquisition procedures. In its opinion, the grounds set out by the Bundeskartellamt for its decision, should they be confirmed by the OLG , would effectively prevent the company from growing in Germany through the acquisition of other companies.

Meanwhile, the Medienrat (Media Council) of the Bayerische Landesmedienanstalt (Bavarian Land media authority - BLM) has withdrawn its appeal against the decision of the Kommission zur Ermittlung der Konzentration im Medienbereich (Commission on Concentration in the Media - KEK). The BLM had wanted proceedings to continue. Now, however, at its meeting on 7 March 2006, the Konferenz der Direktoren der Landesmedienanstalten (Conference of Directors of the Land Media Authorities - KDLM) agreed that the BLM's application was no longer relevant following the decision to abandon the takeover plans.