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Germany Clears Thalia & Osiander Deal

By  |  November 19, 2020

The Federal Cartel Office gave the green light for the largest German book retail chain Thalia to merge with Osiander.

On Thursday, the Federal Cartel Office allowed the largest German book retail chain Thalia to merge with Osiander, a strong competitor, particularly in southern Germany. With this step, Thalia could “further expand its strong position in the German book trade,” said the Cartel Office President Andreas Mundt in Bonn.

Nevertheless, not least because of strong online retailers like Amazon, the merger does not lead to a significant impediment to competition, neither for consumers nor for book publishers.

Thalia operates a total of 312 bookstores across Germany. Osiander currently has 72 branches, making it the fourth largest book retail chain in Germany.

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