The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has prohibited the acquisition of Dutch health care provider Mauritskliniek by rival provider Bergman Clinics. ACM reached the conclusion that Bergman Clinics already has a very strong position vis-à-vis health insurers. The planned acquisition would have made that position even stronger.
Bergman Clinics and Mauritskliniek are independent treatment centers that provide plannable specialist medical care. Bergman Clinics is, by far, the largest and most well-known chain of independent treatment centers in the Netherlands, with over 40 locations across the country. Over the past years the price of health care provided by Bergman Clinics has risen considerably more than that of other independent treatment centers and hospitals that offer the same type of care and it indicates a very strong bargaining position, as a result of which health insurers need to pay more for health care.
ACM decided that the planned acquisition would lead to Bergman Clinics to demand higher prices and with the merger, competitive conditions of the market will be worsened.
(ACM – 24.12.2021)
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NAZALI TAX & LEGAL |