Notifying parties must provide the required information, according to the following definitions:

1.        AFFECTED MARKETS

For the purposes of the information required in the Forms, affected markets are the relevant product and geographic markets on which:

- two or more of the parties to the concentration are engaged in business activities at the same time and the concentration will lead to a combined market share of 15 per cent or more;

- one of the parties to the concentration will have, after the concentration, a market share of 25 per cent or more, provided that at least one other party is engaged in business activities on an upstream or downstream market (which will also be considered an affected market);

- one of the target undertakings of the merger or acquisition has a market share of 25 per cent or more, and the other parties to the concentration do not operate on that same market, nor on a market  upstream or downstream thereof.

2.        RELEVANT MARKET

The relevant product and geographic markets determine the scope within which the market power of the undertaking resulting from the merger must be appraised. They are, respectively, the smallest group of products and the smallest geographic area in which, given the existing substitution possibilities, may be created or strengthened a dominant position.

3.        THE RELEVANT PRODUCT MARKET

A relevant product market includes all the products and services which consumers see as interchangeable or substitutable by reason of their characteristics, prices and intended uses.

Factors relevant to the assessment of the relevant product market include elements explaining why certain products or services are included and others are excluded, vis-à-vis the definition given above and taking into account, inter alia, the characteristics of the products, prices, functions and intended use, and any other factors relevant to the definition of the product market.

The definition of the relevant product market generally focuses on demand-side substitutability. However, in order to assess the overall competitive conditions in a market, the Authority also considers the possibility of substitution on the supply side, namely, the possibility for other producers to easily reconvert their own production capacity, to enable them to place products or services on the market in substitution of those offered by the parties to the concentration. For this purpose, the Authority will take into account all information provided under those Sections of the Form that relate to the supply structure and the conditions of entry into the affected markets.

4.        THE RELEVANT GEOGRAPHIC MARKET

A relevant geographic market is the area in which the parties to the concentration supply the relevant products and services, and which may be regarded as distinct from neighbouring geographic areas because of the absence of significant possibilities of geographic substitution.

Factors relevant to the assessment of the relevant geographic market include the nature and characteristics of the products and services concerned, transport costs, the existence of other entry barriers, consumer preferences, the existence of appreciable differences between neighbouring geographic areas, and the existence of significant price differences.