August 23 (SeeNews) - Romania's anti-trust regulator said on Thursday that it has approved the takeover of Romanian sports brand Gazeta Sporturilor by Ringier Sportal, a joint venture of Ringier Romania and Bulgaria's Sportal Media Group.
"Following a review of the transaction, the Competition Council found that it does not raise significant obstacles to effective competition in the market, in particular by establishing or strengthening of a dominant position," the anti-trust authority said in a statement.
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The transaction, whose value was not disclosed, was announced in July.
Through this acquisition Ringier Romania will become the unprecedented leader in digital media in the country, Ringier Sportal said at the time.
The deal covers the digital platform GSP.ro and the print edition of Gazeta, previously owned by local media group Intact.
Ringier Sportal is the 50:50 joint venture of Ringier Romania S.R.L., a direct subsidiary of Swiss-based Ringier AG, and Sportal Media Group Bulgaria established in March 2018.
Founded in 1992, Ringier Romania is the biggest digital publishing group in Romania and a key player on the local media market.
The Sportal Media Group operates Sportal.bg, the Bulgarian sports portal launched in March 2006 which employs over 60 journalists delivering over 300 news items per day from all over the world. The site currently receives over 85 million page views monthly. It is the first Bulgarian website to launch its own web television service.
Beside Sportal.bg, Sportal Media Group operates a total of 40 websites and over 45 social media channels.