Much ado about nothing?

The German Zeus Group, which includes Hagebau among its partners, has compiled a study of the DIY markets in Britain, France and the US in order to counteract a state of uncertainty in the sector, among banks and retailers, that has been created by other analyses.
The study states that, although the market leaders in the US and Britain appropriate at least three-quarters of the market share, in both countries considerably smaller DIY retailers are managing quite successfully to hold their own in the "ostensibly all-powerful" competitive trading scene. One special feature in the US is the considerable proportion of DIY sales that is not handled by typical DIY superstores but by specialist retailers, malls and discounters. It must accordingly be assumed that the market share of the leading companies is somewhat smaller than represented. The study also says that the French DIY market, too, is as fragmented as its German counterpart at the moment, with several comparably powerful companies managing to exist alongside each other, no massive spate of mergers so far and none in sight.
The Zeus summary: It will quite definitely come to the occasional takeover here and there in both France and Germany. But such "market adjustment" will not result in just three DIY retail groups sharing out the German market between them.