The German Federal Cartel Office has cleared the acquisition of Share Now by Stellantis. The car-sharing company, which is operated by Mercedes and BMW, will thus soon be part of Opel’s parent company.
No overlap in activities
Share Now was created by merging the carsharing divisions of Mercedes and BMW: Car2Go and DriveNow were merged here. Back in May, the two groups announced their intention to sell the joint subsidiary to Stellantis. The examination by the German Federal Cartel Office has now shown that there are no overlaps in the areas of activity. This is due to the fact that Stellantis is not yet active in the car sharing sector in Germany. Stellantis car sharing is currently offered in Paris and Madrid. Share Now, on the other hand, has large market shares, especially in Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Munich. Accordingly, the Cartel Office does not see any addition of market shares in relation to the German market. Andreas Mundt, head of the Cartel Office, also stated that there were no competition concerns beyond this.
Open interfaces must be maintained
As part of the merger of DriveNow and Car2Go, the EU Commission’s competition watchdog had ordered that open interfaces be provided: The newly founded company Share Now thus had to guarantee that its competitors could also offer its vehicles in their apps. This was intended to prevent foreclosure and the formation of a monopoly. Stellantis must continue to meet this obligation. In practice, this means that there should be no major changes from the end customer’s point of view for the time being.
Meanwhile, a Stellantis spokesman announced that the company has now received regulatory approval for the takeover. An important takeover step has thus been taken. The public will be informed as soon as the takeover is finalized. The purchase of the car-sharing company fits seamlessly into Stellantis’ strategy of moving away from a focus on individual mobility.
