Tourism sector: the Autorité clears the acquisition of the Paris Expérience group by Aéroports de Paris

Parties to the transaction

Aéroports de Paris (ADP) is a French limited company (société anonyme)controlled by the French State and in charge of constructing, operating and developing airport facilities in the Île-de-France region (mainly Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly and Paris-Le Bourget). In addition to making its infrastructure available to airlines, ADP also operates the commercial sites (shops and restaurants) and advertising space and facilities located in its airports.

Paris Expérience is active in the tourist hospitality sector. In particular, the group provides excursions and visits to sites and historical monuments in France, primarily in Paris. Paris Expérience also offers dinner cruises, as well as private and corporate receptions on boats moored on the Seine.

The Autorité ruled out any risk of harm to competition in the markets concerned

The Autorité considered that, even if the transaction enabled ADP to promote the activities of Paris Expérience to foreign tourists arriving in France by air on its advertising space and facilities in Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly airports, the transaction was not likely to harm competition.

Although ADP, viaExtime Média, holds an operating monopoly on advertising space and facilities located in Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly airports, the Autorité considered that such a strategy would be unlikely to negatively affect competition. Advertising space in airports is not an essential promotional channel, either for the target or for its competitors, particularly as most of the target's customers book its services before arriving in France.

Following its competitive analysis, the Autorité therefore cleared the without conditions.