PRESS RELEASE

MUSEUM BOOKSHOPS: ANTITRUST AUTHORITY LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO POSSIBLE COMPETITION-RESTRICTING AGREEMENT BETWEEN ELECTA (MONDADORI GROUP) AND FRANCE'S RÉUNION MUSÉES NATIONAUX

Investigation to determine whether the two companies established a joint venture for participating in calls to tender by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities in order to curtail competitive comparisons by restricting competition in the market for the tenders.

The Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato decided to launch investigation to determine whether Electa (Mondadori group) and Réunion Musées Nationaux (RMN), which operate in the markets for museum bookshop management and exhibit planning, established a competition-restricting understanding.

The two corporations had in fact formed a joint company, known as JVCO, for responding to calls to tender issued by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (Mibac) for the management of museum bookshops and the planning of exhibits, even though each was fully eligible for independent participation. These two operators are leaders in their respective markets in France and Italy, and according to the Antitrust Authority they used this company to create an understanding that was designed to bypass the Ministry's prohibition on the joint participation of companies (as Temporary Regrouping of Enterprises, for instance) that are independently qualified to participate in the tendering. The Ministry incorporated this pro-competition clause on the recommendation of the Antitrust Authority in order to increase competition in a market that was just starting to be liberalized. The Mibac, as a matter of fact, issued 31 calls to tender for almost all museum services for the numerous sites and state museums managed by Mibac itself, and 18 of these calls were subject to the Agreement between Electa and RMN for a total value of 83 million euros and involving major organizations, like the museum Hub of Florence, the museum Hub of Naples, the archeological Hub of Rome, the museum Hub of Rome and the archeological Hubs of Naples and Pompei.

Rome - February 18^th, 2011