Mapa may not unreasonably refrain from selling its products to Ituran competitors.
Antitrust Authority director general Ronit Kan has conditionally approved the merger between Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (Nasdaq:ITRN); TASE:ITRN) subsidiary E-Com Global Electronic Commerce Ltd. and Mapa Mapping and Publishing Ltd. The Antitrust Authority found that Mapa was a monopoly for the supply of digital mapping and geographical database and that it provided its services to Ituran’s competitors.
The Antitrust Authority was worried that this monopoly jeopardized competition if Ituran exploited Mapa in a way that affected the supply of Mapa’s products to Ituran’s competitors, thereby strengthening its monopoly standing. The Antitrust Authority found, however, that competitors will soon enter the market, and that barriers to the entry of competing products are fairly low in terms of both time and cost.
Kan approved the merger, such to certain conditions: Mapa Group should not unreasonably refrain from selling its computerized geographic information (GIS) products and any updates to any customer; Mapa Group shall not act discriminatively in similar transactions for customers interested in purchasing Mapa Group's products; and Mapa Group shall not link or condition the supply of its Products to a sale of service and/or other product.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on June 25, 2007
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