An application for combination of Save & Safe Company Ltd. and RT-Mart International Ltd.

Chinese Taipei

Case:

An application for combination of Save & Safe Company Ltd. and RT-Mart International Ltd.

Key Words:

whole sale store, combination, to operate jointly or to entrust operation

Reference:

The Fair Trade Commission Decision of December 24, 1997 (the 321st Commission Meeting)

Industry:

Retail Businesses for Other Assorted Products (5329)

Relevant Laws:

Articles 6(1)(iv) and 11 of the Fair Trade Law; Article 7(1) of Enforcement Rules of the Fair Trade Law

Summary:

1. Whenever an enterprise "frequently operates jointly with another enterprise or is entrusted by another enterprise to operate the latter's business", as provided in Article 6(1)(iv) of the Fair Trade Law, it constitutes the requirements of "combination". Save and Safe Company Ltd. (Save & Safe) frequently operates jointly with RT-Mart International Ltd. (hereafter RT-Mart). During the last fiscal year, the revenue of RT-Mart reached NT$3.252 billion, and has met the requirement of Article 11(1)(iii) of the Fair Trade Law, which requires an application for the approval to form a combination if the amount of sales in the preceding fiscal year of an enterprise participating in the combination exceeds the amount publicly announced by the central competent authority.

In addition, in accordance with Article 7(1) of the Enforcement Rules of the Fair Trade Law, where an enterprise is acquiring or leasing the business or properties of, or frequently operating with other enterprises, the participating enterprises shall submit an application for approval with the central competent authority. Therefore, Save & Safe filed a combination application to the Fair Trade Commission for approval.

2. Investigation showed that the two enterprises participating in the combination are both from the whole sale industry, a market where there is an absence of obvious restrictions or obstacles against competition entering the market. In addition, since the two enterprises only accounted for a limited amount of market share, no significant changes in market competition will occur after approval for the combination granted.

The combination will enable the participating enterprises to increase their sales outlets, stimulate market competition, save on personnel and administrative expenses, improve purchase bargaining power, and lower purchase cost to increase efficiency. The combination, therefore, will not obstruct overall economic development; the advantages resulting from the combination should overweigh the disadvantages resulting from limiting competition. Thus, the FTC approved such combination in accordance with Article 12 of the Law.

　

Summarized by Lin, Yi-chao
Supervised by Liu, Chian-hsun

Appendix:
Save & Safe Company Ltd. Uniform Invoice Number: 84442769
RT-Mart International Ltd. Uniform Invoice Number: 97173127

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