Denise and Vass us this book to take a look at the regulatory framework that Canada uses to evaluate competition and monopoly powers. While I knew that many companies owned many brands that “competed” with each other, this did bring more of that to the forefront. There really is only 2 or 3 companies that own all the products on Canadian grocery shelves, we really do have only a few cell carriers that own all the possible names you see out there.
I also enjoyed their discussion on rollup strategies of gaining monopoly power. In Canada investment companies are purchasing all the dentists, vets, and other businesses. Each purchase is below regulatory scrutiny numbers, but the end result is that every vet in your town is owned by the same company and there is no real competition. These investment firms are also able to overpay for the business, leaving up and coming vets with no purchasing power to buy a retiring business. It doesn’t make financial sense to pay so much unless you’re going to leverage your monopoly power later and take over the market.
If you’ve read a bunch about competition in the past, this isn’t news, it’s just the Canadian spin on how our laws work. I find that refreshing in a world dominated by news out of our southern…neighbours.
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