The Estonian media group Ekspress Grupp will have to sell one of its news websites in Lithuania after it acquired a major media outlet without clearance from the country’s competition watchdog.
Ekspress Grupp is the owner of Delfi.lt, the biggest online news outlet in Lithuania, and recently purchased Lrytas.lt.
“The Competition Council has not cleared the transaction by which the Estonian company Ekspress Grupp, which operates the news portal Delfi.lt, acquired Lrytas, which operates the news portal Lrytas.lt, and has ordered the company to restore the previous situation or remedy the effects of the concentration by selling one of the portals,” the Competition Council said in a press release on Friday.
Before the transaction, Delfi.lt and Lrytas.lt were close competitors and ranked first and second in the market based on various traffic indicators, with a combined market share of over 40 percent, according to the press release.
Following the acquisition, the combined market share of both websites was more than double that of the nearest competitor in terms of user views, visits, and time spent on the sites.
“The market became highly concentrated after the transaction, as there was no longer a main competitor offering exclusively free news, which had previously challenged the ability of the largest player on the market, Delfi.lt, to increase the prices of its paid news content,” the Competition Council said.
It gave Ekspress Grupp six months to “restore the status quo ante” or sell one of the websites.
Looking for a buyer
Ekspress Grupp says it will appeal against the competition watchdog’s decision.
“We fundamentally disagree with the Competition Council’s conclusion about the market impact of this acquisition,” Ekspress Grupp board chair Mari-Liis Ruutsal said, adding that the group will challenge the decision in court.
“The Lithuanian digital news market remains highly competitive, with multiple strong players, including state-funded media, other media conglomerates, and significant competition from specialised news portals and social media. Consumer behaviour shows that readers regularly access multiple news sources, with technology enabling instant switching between different platforms and providers. We believe there is no basis to conclude that this acquisition could impede effective competition in the market,” she said.
Ekspress Grupp says Lrytas represents approximately 5 percent of its total turnover and 2 percent of the group’s EBITDA.
However, according to a report by the business news website vz.lt on Thursday, the group is looking for potential buyers for Lrytas.
The Estonian media group acquired Lrytas from Lietuvos Rytas in December 2022.
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