The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Morpho Detection, the threat detection equipment business of Safran of France, by Smiths of the UK. The clearance is conditional on the divestiture of Morpho Detection's explosive trace detection business.
The Court of Justice ruled on the Commission' appeal against an earlier General Court ruling that had annulled a Commission decision of 2012. The 2012 decision had extended the scope of a state aid investigation into public measures in favour of Lübeck airport and airlines flying from it. Lübeck airport brought an action for annulment against the 2012 extension decision. The General Court annulled the decision with regard to one measure: Lübeck airport's 2006 schedule of airport charges. The 2012 decision had found that the schedule selectively favoured airlines flying from Lübeck airport over competing airlines flying from other nearby airports, such as Hamburg. The General Court held that the schedule was not selective because it was open to all airlines willing to fly from Lübeck airport. The Court of Justice has now confirmed the General Court's findings.
The European Commission has sent a Statement of Objections to Facebook alleging the company provided incorrect or misleading information during the Commission's 2014 investigation under the EU Merger Regulation of Facebook's planned acquisition of WhatsApp.
The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of WhiteWave, a US-based manufacturer of packaged foods and beverages, by the French Danone group. The clearance is conditional upon the divestment of Danone's "growing-up milk" business in Belgium.
The Competition Merger Brief 4/2016 is available, covering the cases M.7630 FedEx/TNT, M.7881 ABI/SAB, M.7744 Heidelbergcement/Italcementi and M.7893 Plastic Omnium/Faurecia Exterior Business case
6/12/2016 - The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of LinkedIn by Microsoft. The decision is conditional on compliance with a series of commitments aimed at preserving competition between professional social networks in Europe.
29/11/2016 - The European Commission just published a new Competition merger brief (Number 3/2016) reporting about recent developments in telecoms mergers
23/11/2016 - The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of St Jude Medical by Abbott Laboratories, both US based companies that develop and market medical devices. The approval is conditional on Abbott divesting two devices used in cardiovascular treatments.
23/11/2016 - The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of United Arab Shipping Company ("UASC") by Hapag-Lloyd of Germany, subject to conditions. Both companies operate in the container liner shipping sector.
9/11/2016 - The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of the animal health business of Sanofi (Merial) of France by Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) of Germany. The decision is conditional on the divestment of a number of animal health vaccines and pharmaceuticals.
31/10/2016 - The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of the industrial coatings business of German chemicals company BASF by AkzoNobel of the Netherlands. BASF's industrial coatings business develops, manufactures and sells various industrial coating products. AkzoNobel is a global manufacturer of a wide range of paints, performance coatings and specialty chemicals. Both companies manufacture and supply industrial coatings, which are applied to various substrates to improve surface properties, including appearance, adhesion, corrosion resistance and scratch resistance. Their activities overlap in particular in the area of coil coatings, applied to aluminium or steel where they have a relatively strong combined market position. However, the Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, because the merged entity will continue to face strong competition from other suppliers present on these markets. Although the companies are the leading suppliers of coil coating paint systems for domestic appliances, a number of well-established or expanding suppliers remain active in the market and customers are large sophisticated buyers.
31/10/2016 - The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Chemetall of the US by BASF of Germany. Chemetall develops, manufactures and supplies surface treatment products and services for a range of industries including aerospace, aluminium and automotive. BASF is a global chemical company. The activities of the companies overlap to a very limited extent. The companies are active on neighbouring markets, in particular in the automotive industry, where Chemetall offers automotive surface treatment products and BASF offers automotive coating products to automotive manufacturers. However, after the transaction BASF's position will remain moderate on both of these markets and it will continue to face competition from other important suppliers active in the European Economic Area. The Commission therefore concluded that the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns. The transaction was examined under the normal merger review procedure.
28/10/2016 - The European Commission has opened an in-depth probe to assess whether the proposed acquisition of Syngenta by ChemChina is in line with the EU Merger Regulation. The Commission will assess whether the deal may reduce competition in crop protection products and the supply of certain input chemicals.
28/10/2016 - The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Alteo ARC and Alufin by Imerys of France. The clearance is conditional on the divestment of Alteo ARC's white fused alumina business in La Bâthie, France.
26/10/2016 - The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of US and German-based Rofin-Sinar by Coherent of the US. Both are global suppliers of lasers. The approval is conditional on the divestment of Rofin-Sinar's Hull (UK) business producing low power CO2 lasers.
21/10/2016 - The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of Transat France by the German TUI group. Transat France, part of the Canadiean group Transat, is the fourth biggest integrated tour operator in France, operating under the names Transat and Look Voyages. TUI is the biggest tour operator in more then 180 destinations worldwide. TUI already owns the French brands Marmara, Nouvelles Frontières, Aventuria and Passion des iles. The planned operation contributes to the consolidation of the market of tour holidays in France. Taking into account that there still is a lot of competition pressure by the other tour operators on the Company resulting in the takeover, the Commission concluded that there will be no negative effect for customers. The operation was examined under the normal merger review procedure.
21/10/2016 - The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of the pulp business of Weyerhaeuser Company by International Paper Company ("IP"), both of the US. Weyerhaeuser's pulp business comprises the major part of the Weyerhaeuser Group's Cellulose Fibers business segment. It consists in particular of five mills, located in North America, and two converting facilities, one located in the US and one in Poland, that turn fluff pulp into a specialty fiber. These mills produce fluff pulp, softwood pulp, and specialty pulp for a number of consumer applications including diapers and hygiene products. IP is a packaging and paper company that produces containerboard, corrugated boxes, pulp, consumer packaging (carton board), cups and white paper, with manufacturing operations in North America, the European Economic Area, Latin America, Russia, Asia and North Africa. The companies' activities overlap in the market for untreated fluff pulp. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns given the presence of strong competitors and the fact that there is an increasing capacity for the production of fluff pulp, as a reaction to an increasing demand for diapers and hygiene products in emerging markets.The operation was examined under the normal merger review procedure.
10/10/2016 - The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether the proposed acquisition of Cemex Croatia by HeidelbergCement and Schwenk is in line with the EU Merger Regulation. The Commission has concerns that the proposed takeover may reduce competition for grey cement in Croatia. (E-4)
4/10/2016 - After an in-depth investigation under the EU Merger Regulation, the European Commission has cleared the proposed acquisition of Faiveley Transport of France by US-based Wabtec. The approval is subject to the implementation of commitments. Both companies are significant suppliers of train equipment. (E-4)
7/10/2016 - The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the functioning of certain procedural and jurisdictional aspects of EU merger control. The public consultation will seek feedback from citizens, businesses, associations, public authorities and other stakeholders. (A-2)
