Joint venture between ACP Magazines Pty Ltd and BBC Magazines

Summary

Australian Consolidated Press Magazines Pty Limited entered into a joint venture with a subsidiary of BBC Magazines, a UK magazine publisher and the publishing arm of BBC Worldwide. The joint venture will involve publishing a number of titles from BBC Magazines' portfolio, starting with the launch of an Australian edition of 'Top Gear'.

Market definition

The JV was considered in the context of separate national markets for each of the following:

- the supply of advertising space; and
- the supply of magazines to consumers

for each of the following categories of magazines:

- Food, Wine and Travel;
- Men's Lifestyle;
- Lifestyle Home / Garden;
- General Interest;
- Business / Finance;
- Teen and Pre-teen; and
- Pre-school.

Competition analysis

On 16 April 2008, the ACCC formed the view that the completed joint venture was unlikely to substantially lessen competition in the relevant markets. Factors informing this conclusion included:

- the parties to the JV would continue to face effective competition from domestic publishers and imported magazines; and
- the actual and potential launch of new titles by new and existing competitors in the relevant magazine markets is likely to constrain any attempted exercise of market power.