Compass Lexecon Advises Cofina in Cleared Merger With Media Capital

In January 2020, the Portuguese competition authority ("AdC") approved the €255 million transaction by which Cofina acquired sole control of Media Capital. Both parties are active in the supply of basic pay-TV channels, in the market for digital press and contents, as well as in TV and online advertising markets. The AdC concluded that the merger was unlikely to harm competition in any of the relevant markets, as the increase in market share was small and did not give rise to competitive concerns. This conclusion was also underwritten by the sector regulator for communications ("ANACOM") and the sector regulator for media ("ERC"), who did not oppose the merger.

Compass Lexecon assisted Cofina with an economic analysis of the potential competitive effects arising from the transaction. We identified the overlaps between the Parties, assessed their position in the relevant markets, and analyzed the potential unilateral and conglomerate effects of the transaction.

The Compass Lexecon team included Enrique Andreu, Jorge Padilla, Nadine Watson, Bernardo Sarmento, Miguel de la Mano, and Joanna Hornik.