GAC Approves Acquisition of Namshi by Noon

The General Authority for Competition issued a No Objection certificate with respect to the completion of the economic concentration “acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Namshi Holding Limited by Noon AD Holdings Limited”. The Authority defined the relevant market as the market for sale across the “online” retail chain with its full-fledged branches of (Electronics Market – Home Appliances Market – Clothing Market – Beauty and Personal Care Market – Furniture Market – Other Products including: Groceries, Toys, …), where the commodity dimension has been defined as the market encompassing all goods or services that are interchangeable to meet a specific consumer need; moreover, the transaction is a horizontal concentration due to the presence of horizontal overlaps between the parties’ business. The geographical dimension; on the other hand, of this transaction has been determined by Saudi Arabia’s domestic market. This geographical framework includes global websites and platforms established for presence and sale in the Kingdom.

After examining the application for the economic concentration and conducting the necessary competition tests, the General Authority for Competition found that there are no concerns affecting competition in Saudi Arabia; because the relevant market is considered a competitive one due to the presence of competitors in the relevant market, who provide services that are exactly the same as those provided by the economic concentration parties. This indicates allowing fair competition in the market and no anti-competitive concerns are expected to arise from this transaction. In addition to a competitive restriction, both traditional stores and e-stores with the same production lines as the economic concentration parties are a competitive limitation on the parties, offering similar products that indicate no restrictions on elasticity of substitution.