Two Dutch publishing firms are allowed to rent out ebooks together

The Netherlands Authority for Consumer and Markets (ACM) has cleared the planned collaboration between two Dutch publishing companies, Lannoo Meulenhoff and WPG Uitgevers, to offer ebooks rentals  to consumers together. The two firms will be setting up a new company together. ACM has found no indications that this planned collaboration might result in a dominant position on the ebook market. 

Chris Fonteijn, Chairman of the Board of ACM, comments: ‘The ebook market is booming and very dynamic. Each of these publishing firms currently has limited market shares in ebook rentals and sales to consumers. In this highly competitive market, these firms wish to sell and rent out their paper books and their ebooks through a lot more channels than just through their own new online platform for ebook rentals.’  In addition, the two publishers wish to start offering books from other publishing houses through their new online platform in order to offer consumers as wide a selection as possible. The collaboration is therefore not expected to have a dominant position on the ebook market.