The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has refused to give classified ads service Avito permission to buy CIAN housing search service.

The regulatory body considered that "the merger of Avito and CIAN will entail the formation of a dominant entity (the companies will jointly occupy more than 50% of the market) and may lead to restriction of competition in the market."

In addition, in the event that the deal is made the likelihood of price junps for the services of Avito and CIAN services would increase not only for professional market participants, but also for individuals, FAS said. At the same time, all the positive effects of the deal, according to the experts of the service, can be achieved without its conclusion.

Product cards

Avito, CIAN

News on Avito negotiating the purchase of CIAN appeared at the end of September. According to Forbes, if the deal was closed, Avito's share in the segment of real estate ads could have grown from 40% to 62.2%.

Original (in Russian)