Greenberg Traurig has assisted Agora S.A. on the filing of an appeal against a January 7, 2021 decision of the President of the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection prohibiting the company from taking control over Eurozet Sp. z o.o.
Agora is a Polish media corporation, and Eurozet is a media group based in Poland that is involved in the production and broadcasting of radio programming, the sale of advertising spots, brokerage activities for stations, and the development and management of online services.
According to Greenberg Traurig, “Agora appealed against the decision of the OCCP President in its entirety. The Management Board of Agora stated that in the view of the company, supported by opinions of experts in the fields of economics, competition law, and the radio market [that were] attached to the appeal to the District Court in Warsaw – the Competition and Consumer Protection Court – there are serious concerns as to the factual correctness of the decision issued by the OCCP President, therefore the company requested [that it be] amended by issuing an unconditional decision consenting to the concentration of Agora and Eurozet.”
According to Agora, the OCCP President referred to the theory of a "quasi-duopoly," which Greenberg Traurig describes as being “unknown in competition law and economics, suggesting the tacit coordination of the merged entity Agora and Eurozet with the market leader, RMF FM group. The company states that antimonopoly authority completely overlooked in its considerations the specific features of the radio market, and consequently formulated a series of hypothetical scenarios that have no relation to market realities. Incorrect application of substantive law resulted in the first decision of the President of OCCP prohibiting the concentration in ten years.”
Greenberg Traurig’s team was led by Partner Robert Gago and included Senior Associates Ewa Tabor, Agnieszka Stopinska, and Anna Celejewska-Rajchert, and Associates Filip Drgas and Marta Kownacka.
Editor’s Note: On May 12, 2022, Greenberg Traurig announced that “the District Court in Warsaw, after conducting proceedings on the appeal of Agora S.A., announced a judgment amending in its entirety the decision of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection of January 7, 2021, prohibiting Agora from taking control over Eurozet Sp. z o.o.”
On February 27, 2023, Greenberg Traurig announced that the Court of Appeal in Warsaw dismissed the appeal of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection and upheld the ruling of the District Court in Warsaw from May 12, 2022, which granted unconditional consent to Agora's acquisition of control over Eurozet. According to the firm, this ruling is final and has allowed for the transaction to be finalized and for Agora to acquire a controlling stake in Eurozet.
