VIADA's landlord cleared to take back 102 Latvian fuel stations and the Olaines terminal

Latvia's Competition Council decided on 27 August, publishing the decision on 4 September, to allow SIA AMIC Latvia to acquire usage rights over the assets it leases to AS VIADA Baltija: the fuel stations and the Olaines oil terminal. AMIC Latvia's main business is leasing and managing property and other assets it owns, and it owns those stations and the terminal. VIADA Baltija runs fuel retail across 102 stations in Latvia, offering fast food, hot drinks and convenience goods alongside fuel. The council found the parties' activities in Latvia do not overlap and that they do not operate in vertically related markets, so the market structure would not change materially, and cleared the transaction. Lithuania's Competition Council had cleared the parallel step on 19 August: AMIC Latvia and AMIC Lietuva may terminate the station lease agreements with VIADA Baltija, VIADA LT and Degta and take back sole control of the stations AMIC Lietuva owns. The Lithuanian authority notes that under its own practice and court precedent a single fuel station is treated as a self-standing business unit with its own market turnover, so acquiring control of one — whether by long-term lease or by purchase — qualifies as a concentration. Neither decision disclosed terms.