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COMPETITION LAW 145
Legislative Steps in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Retail
Sector1*
Att. Zeynep Tuncer
The Fast Moving Consumer Goods (hereinafter referred to as
“FMCG”) Retail Sector has progressed a lot in recent years through
minor acquisitions. These minor acquisitions, also known as creeping
acquisitions, are slow-going / unobtrusive acquisitions. As a matter of fact,
in that sector, a conglomerate, in lieu of acquiring another conglomerate,
acquires several small scale enterprises, such as grocers. Nevertheless,
these acquisitions are not subject to the authorization of the Competition
Board (hereinafter to be referred to as the “Board” or the “CB”) because
they do not exceed the thresholds set forth in the Communiqué No. 2010/4
Concerning the Mergers and Acquisitions Calling for the Authorization
of the Competition Board21 (hereinafter referred to as the “Communiqué
No. 2010/4”). Therefore, conglomerates increased their market share by
expanding chain stores almost in every major cities and get more and more
empowered whereas small scale enterprises weakened in the meantime as a
result of strong competition and left to face disappearance from the market.
TheBoard, inorder toanalyze this substantial structural transformation
in the retail sector and propose appropriate solutions to the matter,
conducted last year a comprehensive sector examination study and threw
a sharp relief into the retail industry by the “Retailing of Turkish Fast
Moving Consumer Goods Sector Examination Preliminary Report”32
(hereinafter referred to as the “Preliminary Report”) on April 18, 2011 by
publishing it in CB’s official website.
In addition to the above-stated intended aspiration, there is also no
doubt that the process of harmonization of the laws akin to the European
Union Laws, particularly the recent novelties and amendments made in
* Article of May 2011
1 To consult the Communiqué, see the following link:
2 To consult the Preliminary Report, see the following link:
Ozet_.pdf.