When it became known that two large financial IT companies, Uzum and Click, would merge, the public was worried about the threat of monopoly. The chairman of the competition committee explained the position of the committee in this regard.
In an interview with Kun.uz, the Chairman of the Competition Committee Shohrukh Shorakhmedov said that the merger of Uzum and Click companies will take place only with the permission of the committee.
“Companies prepare for mergers, this is normal. Two companies come, prepare documents and submit to the committee. There will be a preliminary agreement, then a final agreement will be reached after all the clearances have been received.
But for this, the Competition Development Committee must approve their merger. Because they are a very big company. I can’t say for sure whether we will allow the merger or not, because we have to learn.
It should provide information about its assets, turnover, competitors in the market. We ask other competitors in the market: “what are you different from, what are the risks?” We will give permission or not – it will be clear later,” Shorakhmedov said.
In response to the question that Click company has more than 11 million users, and Uzum is growing in popularity, therefore, it may pose a monopoly risk, he mentioned that there are millions of users in other payment systems.
“We have 52 licensed and operating payment systems. With a payment system, you can easily use the services of banks. However, if they join together without our permission, we will punish them,” the chairman of the committee said.
For information, in the official news about the merger of the companies, it was revealed that they “plan to launch several new services at the same time to solve daily problems and develop business”. It is said that Click will be turned into a superapp.
It should be recalled that last month the two largest IT companies in Uzbekistan – Uzum and Click – announced their merger. The agreement on the next steps of the merger was signed on June 12 in Tashkent.
The Committee for Developing Competition and Protection of Consumer Rights made an official statement after public questions regarding the merger of Click and Uzum companies arose regarding the competition legislation.
The committee stated that the official deal has not yet been concluded, no changes have been made to the list of Click founders, and the companies have not addressed the committee. But in the official statement of the companies, it was announced that the owners of Click will become shareholders of Uzum.
In December 2022, the Uzum company bought a 50 percent stake in Kapitalbank, and before that, the digital bank Apelsin, a subsidiary of the bank, joined the Uzum ecosystem and changed its name to Uzum Bank. At the moment, the marketplace under this brand is gaining popularity.
