The report on page 49 was almost impossible to miss and was also very brief. According to the Tages-Anzeiger last week, the Swiss Trade Association is suing Tamedia at the Competition Commission (Weko). The reason: "massively inflated advertising prices." After the takeover of Edipresse by Tamedia and the subsequent merger of "20 minutes" and "Le matin bleu", French-speaking advertisers have to pay more than half as much for an ad than before. People with a background in history know that big changes often come quietly. The fall of the Berlin Wall was triggered by a slip of the tongue by an East German minister, the fall of Mubarak by a few tweeting youths.
The flapping of a butterfly's wings, it is switzerland rcs data learned, does not always have to be in China; sometimes a few complaining advertisers in French-speaking Switzerland are enough. From a legal perspective, the Weko's subsequent investigation of a Tamedia deal would be a turning point. If the Competition Commission accepts the trade association's complaint, it will be an extremely painful and time-consuming matter for those affected, with an uncertain outcome.
In any case, Tamedia wants to complete the takeover of Edipresse very quickly, as it announced on Tuesday. Nothing has been heard from the Competition Commission yet. But if it were to accept the complaint and even agree with the trade association, this would have unpleasant consequences for the Zurich group and could shake up its entire strategy. But there is no need to be really afraid: so far, the Competition Commission has been accommodating towards Tamedia.
An investigation into the Zurich Landzeitung deal a year ago was not carried out because the purchase price was too low, and the sale of Edipresse was approved without conditions in 2009. "Dangerous game without borders," commented editor-in-chief Res Strehle in the Tages-Anzeiger. So much self-criticism is puzzling. He was not referring to his employer's expansion strategy, but to the SRG's online commitment.