Mary Loughran

Mergers: main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2008* On 31 October the Commission cleared, subject to conditions, the proposed acquisition by Galp Energia of Portugal of Esso Portuguesa, Esso Española and part of ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical. The Commission found that the (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2008* On 21 October the Commission gave its approval to the proposed acquisition of ConocoPhillips’ network of Jet fuel stations in Scandinavia by StatoilHydro of Norway following an in-depth investigation opened in May 2008. To (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2008* On 23 September the Commission gave its conditional approval to the proposed acquisition of TNS by WPP, both UK-based groups globally active in the information and communications services sectors. The Commission’s decision is (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2008* On 23 September the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of certain parts of GBI of the Netherlands by the UK-based company Associated British Foods (ABF), subject to conditions. Both companies produce dry, compressed (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2008* On 19 September the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of Enodis of the UK by Manitowoc of the US. The Commission’s decision is conditional upon the commitment by Manitowoc to divest Enodis‘ entire ice-making machines (...)

"Mergers: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2008"* In August the Commission approved the proposed acquisition of BarcoVision of Belgium by the Italian company Itema. Itema produces textile machinery while BarcoVision manufactures sensors and other inputs for the textiles industry. (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2008* In July clearance was granted to Pernod Ricard‘s proposed acquisition of the Swedish state-owned company V&S Vin & Sprit (V&S). Pernod Ricard is a publicly quoted French company active in the production and distribution (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2008* In July the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of ConvaTec of the US by Nordic Capital of Jersey, the Channel Islands. The Commission’s decision was conditional upon the commitment by Nordic Capital to divest its entire wound (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2008* In July the Commission gave a conditional go-ahead to the proposed acquisition of GBI UK — GB Ingredients Ltd and BFP Wholesale Ltd engaged in the yeast business and owned by Gilde B.V, by the French yeast manufacturer Compagnie des (...)

"Mergers: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2008"* In July, following a request of the Czech Competition Authority under the EC Merger Regulation, the Commission decided to refer the acquisition of Plus Discount (Czech Republic) by REWE (Germany) to the Czech Competition Authority (...)

"Mergers: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2008"* In July the Commission approved the proposed acquisition of NAVTEQ of the US by Nokia of Finland. NAVTEQ is a provider of navigable digital map databases and Nokia mainly produces mobile telephones. Nokia is the largest (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2008* In July the proposed acquisition of Huntsman Corporation by Hexion Specialty Chemicals Inc. was approved subject to conditions. Both parties to the transaction are US-based chemical manufacturers Hexion, which is owned by the (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2008* In June conditional approval was given to British American Tobacco’s (BAT) proposed acquisition of the cigarette business together with certain roll-your-own tobacco and ‘snus’ (a type of oral tobacco) interests of the Danish company (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2008* In June a conditional approval was granted to the proposed acquisition of Germany’s pay-TV operator Premiere AG by News Corporation (News Corp) of the US. The approval was granted subject to commitments which would ensure third party (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2008* In June the Commission approved the proposed takeover of ADEG of Austria by the German REWE Group, subject to conditions. Both parties were active on the Austrian retail and wholesale markets for everyday consumer goods. The (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2008* On 17 June the Commission decided to approve, subject to conditions, the proposed acquisition by Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) of the insurance subsidiaries of Austria’s Erste Bank. Vienna Insurance Group is an international insurance (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2008* In June the Commission approved the proposed takeover of the Reflex paper production mill in Germany that currently belongs to the Finnish paper manufacturer M-Real, by the French paper manufacturer Arjowiggins, subject to (...)

"Mergers: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2008"* In May the Commission approved the proposed acquisition of Tele Atlas by TomTom, both of the Netherlands. Tele Atlas is a provider of navigable digital maps and TomTom produces portable navigation devices (PNDs — often known as (...)

"Mergers: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2008"* In May the Commission approved the proposed acquisition of control of the Norwegian shipbuilder Aker Yards by STX of South Korea. After an in-depth investigation, launched in December 2007 the Commission concluded that effective (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2008* Randstad‘s proposed acquisition of Vedior was also cleared subject to conditions in April. Both parties provide manpower or employment services and are based in the Netherlands. The Commission’s approval was granted subject to (...)

"Mergers: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2008"* On 3 April the Commission approved the proposed acquisition by the Dutch company Heineken of the businesses of UK-based brewer Scottish & Newcastle in Belgium, Finland, Portugal and the United Kingdom as it found that the (...)

"Mergers: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2008"* On 11 March the Commission decided to clear the proposed acquisition of the online advertising technology company DoubleClick by Google, both based in the US. Google operates an internet search engine that offers search (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2008* In March the Commission gave its approval to the proposed acquisition of Maxit Holding AB of Sweden by Compagnie de Saint-Gobain of France. The approval was granted subject to the fulfilment of commitments to divest two Maxit (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2008* On 4 March the Commission gave its conditional approval to the proposed acquisition of Foseco by Cookson, both located in the UK. This approval was granted subject to the fulfilment of the parties’ undertaking to sell certain of (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2008* On 22 February the Commission adopted a conditional clearance decision in relation to Rexel‘s proposed acquisition of the Dutch company Hagemeyer‘s subsidiaries in several EEA countries and in Russia. Hagemeyer and Rexel are mainly (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2008* On 19 February the Commission approved the proposed acquisition of the UK-based Reuters Group by Thomson Corporation of Canada, subject to conditions and obligations. The Commission’s in-depth investigation, opened in October 2007, (...)

"Mergers: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2008"* On 30 January the Commission approved the proposed acquisition of Kerling, the polymer division of the Norwegian company Norsk Hydro group, by the UK-based company Ineos. Both companies are active, inter alia,in the production (...)

"Mergers: main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2008"* On 23 January the Commission approved the proposed acquisition of sole control of Cumerio SA of Belgium by Norddeutsche Affinerie AG (NA) of Germany. Both companies are active at several stages of the copper processing chain, in (...)

Mergers: main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2008* On 9 January the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of chemical company DSM Special Products (DSP) of the Netherlands by Arsenal Capital Partners (Arsenal), a US private equity firm. Arsenal owns Velsicol, a chemical (...)

"Mergers: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2007"* Also in December the Commission cleared the acquisition of Lentjes GmbH of Germany by Energy & Environment AG & Co KG (AEE), which is part of the Austrian A-Tec group. Both AEE and Lentjes are active in engineering (...)

Mergers: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2007* The acquisition of joint control of Endesa by Enel and Acciona was notified to the Commission on 31 May and cleared on 5 July. Under the relevant national law, Enel and Acciona requested the Spanish energy regulator (Comision (...)

"Mergers: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2007"* In December the Commission decided to clear the acquisition by the US technology group Syniverse of the BSG Group’s wireless business, providing data and financial clearing services to wireless telecommunication companies (...)

Mergers: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2007* On 9 November the Commission approved the proposed acquisition of the worldwide biscuits, snacks and cereals business of Danone of France by the US-based company Kraft. The Commission’s decision was granted subject to the (...)

Mergers: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2007* On 6 November the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of English Welsh & Scottish Railway Holdings (EWS) by Deutsche Bahn (DB). The Commission’s decision was subject to DB‘s undertaking to fulfil EWS‘ expansion (...)

Mergers: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2007* On 31 October the Commission approved the proposed acquisition of the Dutch company Numico by the French group Danone. Both companies are major suppliers of baby food and baby milk products. Approval was granted subject to (...)

Mergers: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2007* On 24 October the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of the Dutch paper merchant MAP, belonging to the Finnish M-Real group, by the French paper merchant Antalis. The Commission’s clearance was granted subject to the (...)

Mergers: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2007* On 24 October the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of the glass-fibre reinforcements and composite fabrics businesses (‘Vitrotex‘) of the French Compagnie de Saint-Gobain (Saint-Gobain) by Owens Corning of the US. (...)

Mergers: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2007* On 18 October the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of the Franco-Spanish company Altadis by Imperial Tobacco of the UK. The Commission’s decision is conditional on the divestment of a number of tobacco brands in (...)

Mergers: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2007* On 15 October the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of the Danish book publishing company Bonnier Forlagene A/S, belonging to the Swedish media group Bonnier, by Egmont of Denmark, also a media group. The (...)

Mergers: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2007* On 11 October the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of Organon BS of the Netherlands, a subsidiary of Akzo Nobel active worldwide in human and animal health, by the global pharmaceutical company Schering-Plough (...)

Mergers: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2007* On 3 October the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of certain assets of the Dutch banking group ABN AMRO by the Belgo-Dutch financial services group Fortis. The Commission’s decision was granted subject to the (...)

"Mergers: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2007"* In October the Commission granted regulatory approval to the creation of Sony BMG, a joint venture combining the recorded music businesses of Sony and Bertelsmann, after concluding that it did not have sufficiently strong (...)

Mergers: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2007* On 21 September the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of Finnish mineral fertiliser producer Kemira GrowHow by Yara of Norway, also a fertiliser company, subject to commitments. Yara International ASA is active in (...)

Mergers: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2007* In September the Commission cleared the acquisition of part of the raw and coated particle board business of Constantia Industries AG of Austria by Kronospan Holding GmbH of Germany, a member of the Kronospan Group. Both (...)

Mergers: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2007* On 5 September the Commission approved the proposed acquisition of the European tissue business of the US company Procter & Gamble by Sweden’s SCA. The Commission’s decision was subject to the fulfilment of certain (...)

Article originally published in DG Competition’s Competition Policy Newsletter, as Competition Policy Newsletter 2007-3, p. 57 (click here), under the title "Mergers: Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2007". Please note that all articles published in the CPN are subject to a disclaimer: "The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Commission. Responsibility for the information and views expressed lies entirely with the authors. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of the following information." © European Union.

"Merger control: Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2007"* In May the UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) formally requested the Commission, pursuant to Article 22 of the Merger Regulation, to examine the proposed acquisition of Norwegian Telenor Satellite Services, a company providing (...)

Merger control: Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2007* On 3 August the Commission approved the proposed acquisition of the Italian company Eco by the Finnish group Luvata. The Commission’s decision was conditional upon the divestiture of one of Luvata‘s plants in Europe. Luvata is (...)

"Merger control: Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2007"* In July the Commission received a request for the referral of this case under Article 9(2) (a) and 9(2) (b) of the EU Merger Regulation from the Bulgarian Competition Authority, but decided to deal with the case itself. The (...)

Merger control: Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2007* In July the Commission approved the purchase of the fixed telephony and Internet access businesses of Tele 2 France by the French mobile telephony operator SFR. As originally notified, the planned operation raised serious (...)

"Merger control: Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2007"* In June the Commission approved the proposed acquisition of Novartis‘ Medical Nutrition business by Nestle. The approval was granted subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions. Nestle is active in the production, (...)

Merger control: Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2007* On 27 June the Commission took the decision to prohibit the proposed takeover by Ryanair of Aer Lingus. Ryanair is an Irish-based “low-cost” airline, offering point-to-point scheduled air transport services on more than 400 (...)

"Merger control: Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2007"* On 13 June the European Commission acknowledged the abandonment of the proposed acquisition of Denton (US) by the UK-based financial investment group HgCapital, owner of FTSS, and closed its investigation following the (...)

Merger control: Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2007* In June the Commission gave its approval to the proposed acquisition of First Choice, a UK travel services company, by TUI, parent of the German TUI group, active in tourism and shipping services. The Commission’s decision was (...)

Merger control: Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2007* In May the Commission approved the proposed acquisition of the music publishing business of Bertelsmann Music Group(BMG) of Germany by the US-based company Universal. The Commission found that the proposed merger, as initially (...)

Merger control: Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2007* In May the Commission approved the acquisition by VB Autobatterie GmbH of Germany of the automotive battery business of the Italian FIAMM group. The approval decision was made subject to the implementation of certain (...)

"Merger control: Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2007"* On 10 April 2007, and following the request of the Polish Competition Authority, the Commission referred the assessment of the acquisition of Ahold Polska of Poland by Carrefour of France to the Polish Competition (...)

"Merger control: Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2007"* Following an in-depth investigation the Commission decided on 4 April to grant an unconditional clearance to the proposed acquisition by Thales of France of Alcatel‘s shareholdings in the Alcatel Alenia Space (AAS) of (...)

Merger control: Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2007* On 16 March the Commission approved the proposed acquisition of joint control of Capio AB, a Swedish provider of healthcare services, by the private equity funds Apax Partners Worldwide LLP (“APW”) of the UK, Apax Partners SA (...)

Merger control: Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2007* On 20 February the Commission cleared, subject to conditions, the proposed acquisition of the South African steel and vanadium producer Highveld by the steel company Evraz, incorporated in Luxembourg and primarily active in (...)

Merger control: Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2007* On 8 February the Commission approved the proposed acquisition of American Power Conversion Corporation (APC) by the French group Schneider Electric. Both parties to the transaction were major suppliers of a broad range of (...)

"Merger control: Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2007"* In February the Commission acceded to the request of the German competition authority to refer certain aspects of the proposed acquisition of TSR by Cronimet, Remondis and Alfa Acciai to it for examination under German (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2006"* On 20 December the Commission gave its unconditional approval to the proposed takeover of Crompton‘s Lydney paper mill by Glatfelter of the US. This approval followed an in-depth Phase II investigation. Glatfelter is a US (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2006* On 12 December the Commission gave conditional approval to a proposed acquisition by Metso Corporation Oy (“Metso”) of Finland of the pulp and power business of the Norwegian group Aker Kvaerner ASA. Both Metso and Aker (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2006* On 11 December the Commission cleared Johnson & Johnson’s (“J&J”) proposed acquisition of Pfizer’s consumer healthcare business (“PCH”) subject to conditions. J&J is a leading healthcare group active worldwide in three (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2006* On 14 November the Commission gave its conditional approval to the merger of Gaz de France (GDF) and the Suez group. After an in-depth investigation, the Commission initially found that the deal would have anticompetitive (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2006"* On 13 November, after an intensive Phase I investigation, the Commission gave its unconditional go-ahead to the proposed merger between the Finnish company Nokia and the network equipment business of the German company (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2006"* On 9 November the Commission approved the proposed acquisition of Fisher Scientific International Inc. by Thermo Electron Corporation. Both Thermo and Fisher are US companies active in the field of manufacturing and (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2006* A conditional clearance was granted to the proposed acquisition of the UK waste management service company Cleanaway by Veolia ES Holdings plc. on 21 September. Veolia, the acquirer, is also in the waste management business. (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2006* In September the Commission cleared a proposed acquisition by the Japanese conglomerate Toshiba of Westinghouse Electric UK and the BNFL USA Group, both active in the nuclear sector. As well as being a worldwide supplier of (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2006"* In September clearance was given of the proposed take-over of UK company Foster Yeoman by Aggregate Industries. The clearance related only to markets outside the UK. At the same time, at the request of the UK’s Office of (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2006"* The Commission cleared the proposed acquisition by the UK-based company, Ineos, of BP‘s Ethylene Oxide/Ethylene Glycol business in Dormagen, Germany. Ineos is a UK company active worldwide in the production, distribution, sales and (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2006"* A proposed acquisition by China International Marine Containers (“CIMC”) of the Dutch Burg Group (“Burg”) which had been notified in February was effectively abandoned during the Commission’s Phase II investigation. The transaction had (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2006* On 19 July the Commission gave conditional clearance, after an in depth market investigation, to Omya‘s acquisition of US-based J. M. Huber’s on-site precipitated calcium carbonate (“PCC”) business. The transaction involved the sale by (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2006* On 4 July the Commission granted conditional clearance to Inco’s acquisition of the Canadian company Falconbridge. Both parties to the transaction are Canadian companies active in the mining, processing and refining of nickel and (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2006* In June the Commission gave conditional approval to the proposed takeover of the UK-based company BOC by the German company Linde. Both companies are active in industrial and specialty gases. The initial market investigation found (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2006* In June the Commission granted conditional clearance to the proposed acquisition of the company Arcelor S.A.(Luxembourg) by the Mittal Steel Company N.V. Both parties to the transaction are major steel producers. Mittal Steel, a (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2006* In May the Commission approved the proposed acquisition by the Australian company Orica Ltd. (“Orica”) of most of the businesses of the Norwegian company Dyno Nobel ASA (“Dyno”) outside North America and Australia. The transaction had (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2006* In May the Commission conditionally approved the proposed acquisition by the Dutch company Axalto of Gemplus (Luxemburg). Both parties to the transaction are active worldwide in the production and sale of smart cards, such as SIM (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2006* On 26 April the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of the Austrian mobile phone operator tele.ring by T-Mobile Austria, subject to conditions and obligations. The Commission had found that the proposed acquisition of (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2006"* On 9 March the Commission received a notification of Coca-Cola’s planned acquisition of the Italian mineral water producer Fonti del Vulture. The Coca-Cola Company (‘TCCC‘) owns trademarks and supplies soft drink concentrates, (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2006* On 11 April the Commission approved the planned acquisition by US healthcare group Boston Scientific Corporation (‘Boston Scientific‘) of its competitor Guidant Corporation (Boston), a US company specialised in cardiovascular (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2006* On 5 April the proposed acquisition of the German insurance group Gerling by the insurer Talanx was approved. Talanx Aktiengesellschaft (‘Talanx‘) is a German holding company. Its subsidiaries offer life and non-life insurances to (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2006* On 31 January 2006 CVC notified its proposal to acquire sole control of SLEC. SLEC is a holding company owning all the rights in the Formula One Group. CVC is already active in the field of motor sports through its subsidiary (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2006* On 14 March 2006 the Commission approved the acquisition of sole control of Elsam and Energi E2 (‘E2‘), regional electricity generation incumbents in Denmark, and of Kobenhavns Energi Holding A/S (‘KE‘) and Frederiksberg Elnet A/S (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2006* On 22 February the European Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of the industrial foil business of the Belgian company Solvay by the German company Renolit. Effective competition in the foil sector is important because of (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2006* On 10 January the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of UK telecommunications company O2 by the Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica. Telefonica and O2 are both telecommunication network operators. While (...)

Mergers — Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2006* On 22 December 2005 the Commission gave its approval to the proposed acquisition by Deutsche Lufthansa AG of Eurowings Luftverkehr AG and its subsidiary, the low cost airline Germanwings. Lufthansa is the principal airline in (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2006"* The proposed acquisition, which was notified on 4 November, involved the acquisition of sole control of the Czech and Slovak business of the undertaking Carrefour (France) by Tesco (UK). Tesco, based in the UK, is active in (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2006"* In September the Irish-based international packaging group, Jefferson Smurfit (‘JSG‘) notified its plan to acquire the Dutch company Kappa Holding B.V. (‘Kappa‘). JSG is an international packaging company with operations in Western (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2006"* The proposed acquisition, which was notified on 26 August, involved the acquisition of control of the German construction company Züblin by FIMAG, the holding company of the Austrian Strabag construction group. The Strabag Group (...)

"Merger Control: Main Developments between 1 September and 31 December 2005"* On 12 October the Commission approved, subject to conditions, the proposed acquisition by Amer Group of the Salomon business segment of Germany’s Adidas-Salomon AG. Amer had entered into an agreement to acquire the (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2006"* On 24 August the TUI company notified its intention to acquire the Canadian shipping company CP Ships. TUI owns the Hapag-Lloyd shipping company. Both CP Ships and Hapag-Lloyd are active in container liner shipping. After the (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2005"* Following a request from the UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) under the EU Merger Regulation, the European Commission decided to refer the competence to assess the impact of the joint acquisition of Exeter Airport by the Macquarie (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2005"* The European Commission cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of the shipping company Royal P&O Nedlloyd (PONL) by AP Moller-Maersk A/S (Maersk). The Commission’s clearance was conditional upon the (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2005"* The European Commission approved under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed takeover of the VA Tech group of Austria by Siemens of Germany, subject to the condition that Siemens divests itself of VA Tech’s hydro power business and (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2005"* The creation of a joint venture between Dutch newspaper publishers PCM Holding (‘PCM’) and Koninklijke Wegener (‘Wegener’) through the combination of some of their newspapers was cleared by the European Commission under the EU Merger (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2005"* The European Commission has cleared under the EC Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition by German air transport company Deutsche Lufthansa of the Swiss International Air Lines. The Commission’s clearance is conditional upon the (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2005"* The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Allied Domecq plc by Pernod Ricard SA. The Commission’s clearance is conditional on the sale by Pernod Ricard of the Scotch whisky brands (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2005"* The Austrian company Bauholding Strabag SE (Strabag) notified the Commission of its intention to acquire parts of the bankrupt German construction company Walter Bau-AG (Walter Bau). In May 2005 Germany’s Federal Cartel Office (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2005"* The Commission authorised the acquisition of Hexal, a German producer of generic medicines, and its US sister company Eon Labs by Novartis, in a deal which creates the largest European producer of generic medicines. The clearance (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2005"* The European Commission cleared the acquisition of the financial data provider Moneyline Telerate Holding (‘Telerate’) by its major global competitor, Reuters Limited (‘Reuters’). The Commission’s review of the operation highlighted (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2005"* The creation of a rotogravure printing joint venture by German media companies Bertelsmann AG and Axel Springer AGwas approved by the European Commission. The joint venture will combine five printing facilities in Germany and one (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 January to 30 April 2005"* The European Commission cleared the creation of two joint ventures resulting from the French electronics company Alcatel merging its space activities with those of Alenia Spazio and Telespazio, part of the Italian Defence and (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 January to 30 April 2005"* Sasol Wax International (Sasol) and Total SA abandoned their proposed joint venture in the field of petroleum-based waxes following the Commission’s decision to open an in-depth investigation under the EU Merger Regulation. Sasol (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 January to 30 April 2005"* In March, the European Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of the German chemical company, Bakelite AG, by the investment group Apollo, subject to conditions. The Commission found that the proposed transaction could give (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 January to 30 April 2005"* The European Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of Novar by Honeywell after Honeywell had proposed to divest Novar‘s fire alarm business in Italy. Honeywell, a US corporation, is an advanced technology manufacturing (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 January to 30 April 2005"* Microsoft and Time Warner had notified the Commission of their intention to acquire joint control of Contentguard. Contentguard is one of the main Digital Rights Management (DRM) patent-holders. The Commission launched an (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 January to 30 April 2005"* The Commission’s investigation into the proposed acquisition of Chips by Orkla highlighted concerns in certain sectors of the Finnish convenience foods market. In January the Norwegian group Orkla, which is active in branded (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 January to 30 April 2005"* In February, the European Commission referred, pursuant to Article 9.2 of the Merger Regulation, the examination of the proposed acquisition of the North Rhine-Westphalian network cable operator ‘Ish’ by the Hessian cable operator (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 January to 30 April 2005"* In February, following the request of the UK Office of Fair Trading (‘OFT’), the European Commission decided to refer the acquisition of NHP plc by the US Blackstone Group to the UK competition authority for examination. Both (...)

"Merger control: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2004"* The Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of UCB’s Surface Specialties (Surface Specialties) business by Cytec Industries Inc. (Cytec) of the US. The Commission’s review highlighted serious concerns in two amino (...)

"Merger control: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2004"* In November the Commission decided to authorise the acquisition of the worldwide Roche OTC business by Bayer in a deal which creates the largest European OTC consumer health company. The operation raised serious (...)

"Merger control: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2004"* The acquisition of Phoenix AG (Hamburg) by the German undertaking Continental AG involved two rubber companies which mainly serve the automotive industry. The transaction was approved subject to divestiture (...)

"Merger control: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2004"* The Commission approved Oracle Corp’s acquisition of PeopleSoft Inc. The two companies are rival makers of software applications for businesses. After a detailed investigation, the Commission concluded that there was (...)

"Merger control: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2004"* AREVA, the French nuclear group, and Urenco, a company set up by the governments of the UK, the Netherlands and Germany are the main European providers of uranium enrichment services which are needed to produce fuel (...)

"Merger control: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2004"* In May 2004, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration by which two major players of the coreboard and cores industry, Sonoco (USA) and Ahlstrom (Finland), intended to create a joint venture (...)

"Merger control: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2004"* The Commission authorised, subject to conditions, the proposed acquisition of Dutch-based seed producer Advanta B.V. by Swiss-based Syngenta Crop Protection AG. Syngenta Crop Protection AG is a subsidiary of Syngenta (...)

"Merger control: Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2004"* In August the Commission authorised the acquisition of Dutch-based seed producer Advanta B.V. (‘Advanta‘) by the Swiss Syngenta Crop Protection AG. (‘Syngenta CP‘) belonging to Syngenta AG. Syngenta CP and Advanta are both (...)

"Merger control: Main developments between 1 September and 31 December 2004"* In October the Commission unconditionally approved the acquisition of the French glass container manufacturer BSN Glasspack S.A. by its US-based competitor Owens-Illinois Inc. The glass containers produced by the (...)

"Merger control: Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2004"* In June the Commission decided to refer the examination of the intended acquisition of ish GmbH & Co. KG and ish KS NRW GmbH & Co. KG (both together: ‘ish‘), by Kabel Deutschland GmbH (KDG), the operator of the North (...)

"Merger control: Main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2004"* Group 4 Falck, a Danish company, and Securicor, a company based in the United Kingdom, are both providers of private security services. These services include a wide range of activities such as cash transportation, guarding (...)

"An amended merger implementing regulation for a new merger regime"* A. Introduction The adoption of a new Merger Regulation by the Council on 20 January 2004, has made it necessary for the Commission to review the implementing measures which it had put in place under the old merger regime. (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st September 2003 and 31st December 2003"* On 19 December 2003 the Commission decided to accept the request of the Belgian Ministry of Economic Affairs to refer the examination of the entire transaction arising from the agreements between Sibelga and (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st September 2003 and 31st December 2003"* In December the Commission approved a proposed Spanish joint venture, which will bring together the printing activities of Spanish media group Prisa and those of British graphic arts company Polestar. On 6 (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st September 2003 and 31st December 2003"* On 5 December the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of Agfa‘s non-destructive testing (NDT) business by General Electric (GE) of the US. GE is a diversified industrial corporation active gobally in (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st September 2003 and 31st December 2003"* On 11 November 2003 the Commission granted an unconditional approval of the SEB/Moulinex merger in relation to Spain, Finland, Ireland, Italy and the United Kingdom. In January 2002 the Commission had (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st September 2003 and 31st December 2003"* On 23 October 2003 the Commission decided to refer to the Italian competition authorities the examination of the proposed acquisition of Italian tobacco company Ente Tabacchi Italiani by British American (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st September 2003 and 31st December 2003"* On 29 September the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of French aluminium producer Pechiney by Alcan of Canada. The transaction was notified to the Commission on 14 August. Canada’s Alcan and (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st September 2003 and 31st December 2003"* In September the Commission approved, subject to conditions, the acquisition by GE Medical Systems of the Finnish firm Instrumentarium. The proposed acquisition was notified to the Commission on 28 February (...)

"Merger control: main developments between 1st May and 31st August 2003"* On 14 May 2003, the French authorities lodged an application asking that the planned acquisition of Vivendi Universal Publishing (VUP) by the French conglomerate Lagardère be referred to them under Article 9 of the Merger (...)

"Merger control: main developments between 1st May and 31st August 2003"* On 11 June the Commission approved the proposed creation of a Joint Venture between the German chemical producers Celanese and Degussa. The parties will contribute most of their oxo chemicals businesses to the Joint (...)

"Merger control: main developments between 1st May and 31st August 2003"* The European Commission decided, 10 June 2003, to refer part of the proposed merger between Danish-based dairy products company Arla Foods and Britain’s Express Dairies to the UK competition authorities, which then (...)

"Mergers — Main developments between 1 January and 30 April 2006"* On 21 October 2005, the Commission received a notification of Cargill‘s planned acquisition of sole control of Degussa‘s Food Ingredients branch (‘DFI‘). Both Cargill and DFI produce a number of food ingredients and hold a (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st September 2002 and 31st December 2002"* On 23 December 2002 the Commission decided to accede to the request of the Belgian Economic Minister to refer, pursuant to Art. 9 of the ECMR, a transaction involving an agreement between l’Intercommunale (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st September 2002 and 31st December 2002"* On 13 December 2002 the Commission decided to refer certain aspects of Leroy Merlin‘s acquisition of Brico DIY stores to the competition authorities in France, Spain and Portugal. The Commission found that (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st September 2002 and 31st December 2002"* The main interest of this judgment lies in its impact on the interpretation of the Merger Regulation with regard to ancillary restraints. The Court held that contractual clauses which constitute restrictions (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st September 2002 and 31st December 2002"* The Commission referred the proposed acquisition of the Dutch construction company Hollandsche Beton Groep N.V. (HBG) by rival Koninklijke BAM NBM N.V. (BAM) to the Dutch Competition Authority, giving the (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st May 2002 and 31th August 2002"* The Commission decided to grant the referral requested by the Spanish Competition Authorities with regard to the integration of the two satellite digital television platforms operating in Spain. The operation, which (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st May 2002 and 31th August 2002"* The European Commission granted clearance under the European Union’s Merger Regulation to the proposed acquisition of British cruise operator P&O Princess Plc by US-based cruise operator Carnival Corp. The (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st May 2002 and 31th August 2002"* On 6 June 2002 the European Court of First Instance (CFI) annulled the Commission’s decision to prohibit a merger between Airtours and First Choice, two UK based holiday tour operators. Though the Commission had (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st May 2002 and 31th August 2002"* The European Commission referred the proposed acquisition of joint control of the Bremerhavener Entsorgungsgesellschaft mbH (BEG) by Karl Nehlsen GmbH & Co KG (Nehlsen), Rethmann Entsorgungswirtschaft GmbH & (...)