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PARALLEL TEXTS
Concentrazioni: la Commissione autorizza la riacquisizione di Acciai speciali Terni e di VDM da parte di ThyssenKrupp, a conclusione del processo di attuazione delle misure correttive adottate a seguito della concentrazione Outokumpu/Inoxum
Inglese tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-143_en.htm
Italiano tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-143_it.htm
Data documento: 12-02-2014
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Mergers: Commission clears reacquisition of Acciai Speciali Terni and VDM by ThyssenKrupp, concluding the remedy implementation process following the Outokumpu/Inoxum merger
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Concentrazioni: la Commissione autorizza la riacquisizione di Acciai speciali Terni e di VDM da parte di ThyssenKrupp, a conclusione del processo di attuazione delle misure correttive adottate a seguito della concentrazione Outokumpu/Inoxum
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The European Commission has concluded that the proposed reacquisition of Acciai Speciali Terni (AST) and Outokumpu VDM (VDM) by ThyssenKrupp AG (TK) is in line with the EU merger regulation.
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La Commissione europea ha concluso che la proposta di riacquisizione di Acciai speciali Terni (AST) e di Outokumpu VDM (VDM) da parte di ThyssenKrupp AG (TK) è conforme al regolamento UE sulle concentrazioni.
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The reacquisition does not raise any competition concerns, since the merged entity will continue to face a number of credible competitors.
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La riacquisizione non crea problemi di concorrenza poiché la nuova impresa risultante dalla concentrazione continuerà a far fronte a una serie di concorrenti credibili.
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This decision constitutes the final step in the implementation of the remedies which formed the basis for the Commission's 2012 conditional clearance of the acquisition by Outokumpu (OTK) of TK's stainless steel division, Inoxum (see IP/12/1185).
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La decisione di oggi costituisce l'ultima fase dell’attuazione delle misure correttive sulle quali la Commissione si è basata, nel 2012, per concedere l’autorizzazione subordinata a condizioni all’acquisizione di Inoxum, la divisione “Acciaio inossidabile” di TK, da parte di Outokumpu (OTK) (cfr. IP/12/1185).
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The Commission had cleared the transaction subject to the divestment of AST on 7 November 2012 and approved TK as a suitable purchaser for AST on 13 January 2014.
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Il 7 novembre 2012 la Commissione ha autorizzato l’operazione a condizione che AST fosse ceduta e il 13 gennaio 2014 ha approvato TK come acquirente idoneo per AST.
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The Commission still had to assess the proposed reacquisition of AST and VDM under the EU Merger Regulation to make sure that this transaction would not itself raise any competition concerns.
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La Commissione doveva ancora valutare la proposta di riacquisizione di AST e di VDM a norma del regolamento sulle concentrazioni dell’UE per garantire che tale operazione non avrebbe causato problemi di concorrenza.
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The proposed acquisition was notified on 8 January 2014.
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L’acquisizione proposta è stata notificata l’8 gennaio 2014.
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Commission Vice President in charge of competition policy Joaquín Almunia stated:
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Il Vicepresidente della Commissione europea e Commissario responsabile per la Concorrenza, Joaquín Almunia, ha dichiarato:
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"Our priority was to ensure that, despite the challenging market conditions, the Terni steel plant would find as rapidly as possible a suitable purchaser, and to protect its viability in the meantime.
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“La nostra priorità era garantire che, nonostante le difficili condizioni di mercato, le acciaierie di Terni trovassero il più rapidamente possibile un acquirente idoneo, proteggendo nel contempo la loro redditività.
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ThyssenKrupp has provided assurances that it will develop AST as a strong and credible competitor to Outokumpu and other market players.
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ThyssenKrupp ha assicurato che svilupperà AST come concorrente forte e credibile di Outokumpu e di altri operatori del mercato.
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I believe that we have therefore managed to preserve competition in the European stainless steel market."
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Ritengo dunque che siamo riusciti a proteggere la concorrenza nel mercato europeo dell’acciaio inossidabile.”
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TK and AST's activities overlap only in the distribution of stainless steel products in a number of European countries.
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Le attività di TK e AST si sovrappongono unicamente nella distribuzione dei prodotti di acciaio inossidabile in alcuni paesi europei.
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However, several other large distributors will remain active after the transaction in all countries where the parties operate, and the barriers for new competitors to enter these markets are moderate.
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Tuttavia, molti altri grandi distributori rimarranno attivi dopo l’operazione in tutti i paesi in cui le parti esercitano le loro attività, e le barriere all’entrata per nuovi concorrenti su questi mercati resteranno moderate.
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For the rest, TK was no longer present in the markets where AST and VDM are active.
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Per il resto, TK non era più presente nei mercati in cui operano AST e VDM.
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Background
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Contesto
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AST was originally part of TK's stainless steel business Inoxum.
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AST era originariamente parte di Inoxum, la divisione di TK dedicata all’acciaio inossidabile.
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In its November 2012 conditional clearance decision in the Outokumpu/Inoxum case, the Commission found that OTK's acquisition of Inoxum would have created a player with a dominant position in the EEA market for cold-rolled stainless steel flat products, with market shares above 50%.
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Nella sua decisione relativa all’autorizzazione subordinata a condizioni nel caso Outokumpu/Inoxum del novembre 2012, la Commissione aveva concluso che l’acquisizione di Inoxum da parte di OTK avrebbe creato un’impresa con una posizione dominante nello Spazio Economico Europeo (SEE) per i prodotti piatti di acciaio inossidabile laminati a freddo, con una quota di mercato superiore al 50%.
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The Commission therefore cleared the transaction subject to the divestment of AST within an initial deadline which would have expired in May 2013.
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La Commissione ha pertanto autorizzato l’operazione subordinandola alla cessione di AST entro un termine iniziale che sarebbe dovuto scadere nel maggio 2013.
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At OTK's request, and in the interest of an orderly divestment procedure, the Commission accepted to prolong the delay twice, until December 2013.
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Dietro richiesta di OTK ed al fine di garantire una regolare procedura di cessione, la Commissione ha accettato di prorogare il termine due volte, fino al dicembre 2013.
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As a condition for those extensions, the Commission has requested and obtained from OTK a number of commercial and financial guarantees which have contributed to the preservation of AST's competitiveness and viability in the interim.
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Come condizione per tali proroghe, la Commissione ha chiesto e ottenuto da OTK un certo numero di garanzie commerciali e finanziarie che hanno contribuito al mantenimento della competitività e della redditività di AST nel periodo di transizione.
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OTK has subsequently submitted further requests for (1) a full waiver of the commitments, (2) a modification of the divestiture, and (3) a third extension of the divestiture deadline.
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OTK ha successivamente presentato ulteriori richieste volte ad ottenere 1) una revoca integrale degli impegni, 2) una modifica della cessione e 3) una terza proroga del termine per la cessione.
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The Commission has rejected these requests, the approval of which would have been detrimental for competition and disruptive for the divestment process.
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La Commissione ha respinto tali richieste in quanto la loro approvazione avrebbe recato danno alla concorrenza e perturbato il processo di cessione.
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On 29 November 2013, OTK and TK publicly announced an agreement pursuant to which TK would reacquire AST and VDM, together with additional assets, from OTK.
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Il 29 novembre 2013, OTK e TK hanno pubblicamente annunciato un accordo in virtù del quale TK avrebbe riacquistato AST e VDM, unitamente ad altre attività, da OTK.
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In order to comply with the independence requirement of EU merger control rules, TK announced on the same day the sale of its 29.9% shareholding in OTK, and agreed to sever all other relevant links between the two companies.
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Al fine di conformarsi alle disposizioni in tema di indipendenza previste dalle norme UE sul controllo delle concentrazioni, TK ha annunciato lo stesso giorno la vendita della sua partecipazione del 29,9% al capitale di OTK ed ha accettato di interrompere tutti gli altri legami di rilievo tra le due società.
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TK is a large industrial player with a long tradition in stainless steel and a global distribution network.
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TK è una grande impresa industriale con una lunga tradizione nell’acciaio inossidabile e una rete di distribuzione a livello mondiale.
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AST will now be its only stainless steel production plant, and will therefore enjoy privileged access to TK's large existing distribution network.
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AST sarà ora il suo unico impianto di produzione di acciaio inossidabile e beneficerà quindi di un accesso privilegiato alla sua ampia rete di distribuzione.
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TK has also provided to the Commission a business plan based on credible assumptions, as well as assurances that it intends to invest in AST and improve its profitability.
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TK ha inoltre fornito alla Commissione un piano di attività basato su ipotesi plausibili, nonché assicurazioni sulle sue intenzioni di investire in AST e migliorarne la redditività.
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On these grounds, the Commission concluded that TK's acquisition of AST would preserve effective competition by maintaining a fourth strong competitor in the EEA market for stainless steel, and approved TK as a suitable purchaser for AST on 13 January 2014.
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Per tali motivi la Commissione ha concluso che l’acquisizione di AST da parte di TK avrebbe preservato una concorrenza effettiva, mantenendo una quarta forza competitiva nel mercato dello SEE dell’acciaio inossidabile, e il 13 gennaio 2014 ha approvato TK come acquirente idoneo per AST.
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Activities of the parties
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Attività delle parti
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TK is active in the production and distribution of steel and other materials, as well as elevators, plant technology, engineering and construction services, and components for the car, construction and engineering industry.
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TK è attiva nella produzione e distribuzione dell’acciaio e di altri materiali, nonché di ascensori, tecnologia per impianti, servizi di costruzione e di ingegneria e componenti per l’industria automobilistica, edilizia e meccanica.
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AST is active in the production and distribution of stainless steel products.
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AST è attiva nella produzione e nella distribuzione di prodotti di acciaio inossidabile.
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In order to obtain clearance of its acquisition of Inoxum, OTK pledged to also divest AST's forging business (Societá delle Fucine), as well as distribution centres in Ceriano Laghetto (Italy), Willich (Germany), Tours (France), and warehouses in Padova, Ancona, Florence, and Bologna (Italy).
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Per ottenere l’autorizzazione per l’acquisizione di Inoxum, OTK si è impegnata a cedere anche l’attività di forgiatura di AST (Società delle Fucine) e i centri di distribuzione a Ceriano Laghetto (Italia), Willich (Germania), Tours (Francia) e i depositi di Padova, Ancona, Firenze e Bologna (Italia).
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In the present transaction TK purchased also the tube making plant Tubificio di Terni (Italy), and steel service centres in Barcelona (Spain) and Gebze (Turkey) which were not part of the original divestment business.
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Nel quadro dell’operazione, TK ha acquistato anche l’impianto di fabbricazione di tubi Tubificio di Terni (Italia) e i centri di servizi siderurgici di Barcellona (Spagna) e Gebze (Turchia), che originariamente non facevano parte delle attività da cedere.
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VDM produces high performance alloys.
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VDM produce leghe ad alte prestazioni.
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Merger control rules and procedures
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Procedure e norme di controllo delle concentrazioni
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The Commission has the duty to assess mergers and acquisitions involving companies with a turnover above certain thresholds (see Article 1 of the Merger Regulation) and to prevent concentrations that would significantly impede effective competition in the EEA or any substantial part of it.
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La Commissione ha il compito di valutare le concentrazioni e le acquisizioni che coinvolgono imprese il cui fatturato supera determinate soglie (cfr.articolo 1 del regolamento sulle concentrazioni) e di impedire le concentrazioni che potrebbero seriamente ostacolare la concorrenza nel SEE o in una sua parte sostanziale.
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The vast majority of notified mergers do not pose competition problems and are cleared after a routine review.
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La maggior parte delle concentrazioni notificate non pone problemi sotto il profilo della concorrenza e viene autorizzata dopo i controlli di routine.
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From the moment a transaction is notified, the Commission generally has a total of 25 working days to decide whether to grant approval (Phase I) or to start an in-depth investigation (Phase II).
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Dalla notifica dell’operazione, la Commissione dispone generalmente di 25 giorni lavorativi per decidere se approvarla (fase I) oppure avviare un esame approfondito del caso (fase II).
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More information is available on the Commission's competition website, in the public case register under the case numbers M.7138 and M.6471.
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Ulteriori informazioni sono disponibili sul sito web della Commissione dedicato alla concorrenza nel registro pubblico dei casi ai numeri M. 7138 e M. 6471. |
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LISTEN WITH READSPEAKER
Mergers: Commission clears reacquisition of Acciai Speciali Terni and VDM
by ThyssenKrupp, concluding the remedy implementation process following the
Outokumpu/Inoxum merger
The European Commission has concluded that the proposed reacquisition of
Acciai Speciali Terni (AST) and Outokumpu VDM (VDM) by ThyssenKrupp AG (TK) is
in line with the EU merger regulation.
The reacquisition does not raise any competition concerns, since the merged
entity will continue to face a number of credible competitors.
This decision constitutes the final step in the implementation of the
remedies which formed the basis for the Commission's 2012 conditional clearance
of the acquisition by Outokumpu (OTK) of TK's stainless steel division, Inoxum
(see IP/12/1185).
The Commission had cleared the transaction subject to the divestment of AST
on 7 November 2012 and approved TK as a suitable purchaser for AST on 13 January
2014.
The Commission still had to assess the proposed reacquisition of AST and VDM
under the EU Merger Regulation to make sure that this transaction would not
itself raise any competition concerns.
The proposed acquisition was notified on 8 January 2014.
Commission Vice President in charge of competition policy Joaquín Almunia
stated:
"Our priority was to ensure that, despite the challenging market conditions,
the Terni steel plant would find as rapidly as possible a suitable purchaser,
and to protect its viability in the meantime.
ThyssenKrupp has provided assurances that it will develop AST as a strong and
credible competitor to Outokumpu and other market players.
I believe that we have therefore managed to preserve competition in the
European stainless steel market."
TK and AST's activities overlap only in the distribution of stainless steel
products in a number of European countries.
However, several other large distributors will remain active after the
transaction in all countries where the parties operate, and the barriers for new
competitors to enter these markets are moderate.
For the rest, TK was no longer present in the markets where AST and VDM are
active.
Background
AST was originally part of TK's stainless steel business Inoxum.
In its November 2012 conditional clearance decision in the Outokumpu/Inoxum
case, the Commission found that OTK's acquisition of Inoxum would have created a
player with a dominant position in the EEA market for cold-rolled stainless
steel flat products, with market shares above 50%.
The Commission therefore cleared the transaction subject to the divestment of
AST within an initial deadline which would have expired in May 2013.
At OTK's request, and in the interest of an orderly divestment procedure, the
Commission accepted to prolong the delay twice, until December 2013.
As a condition for those extensions, the Commission has requested and
obtained from OTK a number of commercial and financial guarantees which have
contributed to the preservation of AST's competitiveness and viability in the
interim.
OTK has subsequently submitted further requests for (1) a full waiver of the
commitments, (2) a modification of the divestiture, and (3) a third extension of
the divestiture deadline.
The Commission has rejected these requests, the approval of which would have
been detrimental for competition and disruptive for the divestment process.
On 29 November 2013, OTK and TK publicly announced an agreement pursuant to
which TK would reacquire AST and VDM, together with additional assets, from OTK.
In order to comply with the independence requirement of EU merger control
rules, TK announced on the same day the sale of its 29.9% shareholding in OTK,
and agreed to sever all other relevant links between the two companies.
TK is a large industrial player with a long tradition in stainless steel and
a global distribution network.
AST will now be its only stainless steel production plant, and will therefore
enjoy privileged access to TK's large existing distribution network.
TK has also provided to the Commission a business plan based on credible
assumptions, as well as assurances that it intends to invest in AST and improve
its profitability.
On these grounds, the Commission concluded that TK's acquisition of AST would
preserve effective competition by maintaining a fourth strong competitor in the
EEA market for stainless steel, and approved TK as a suitable purchaser for AST
on 13 January 2014.
Activities of the parties
TK is active in the production and distribution of steel and other materials,
as well as elevators, plant technology, engineering and construction services,
and components for the car, construction and engineering industry.
AST is active in the production and distribution of stainless steel products.
In order to obtain clearance of its acquisition of Inoxum, OTK pledged to
also divest AST's forging business (Societá delle Fucine), as well as
distribution centres in Ceriano Laghetto (Italy), Willich (Germany), Tours
(France), and warehouses in Padova, Ancona, Florence, and Bologna (Italy).
In the present transaction TK purchased also the tube making plant Tubificio
di Terni (Italy), and steel service centres in Barcelona (Spain) and Gebze
(Turkey) which were not part of the original divestment business.
VDM produces high performance alloys.
Merger control rules and procedures
The Commission has the duty to assess mergers and acquisitions involving
companies with a turnover above certain thresholds (see Article 1 of the Merger
Regulation) and to prevent concentrations that would significantly impede
effective competition in the EEA or any substantial part of it.
The vast majority of notified mergers do not pose competition problems and
are cleared after a routine review.
From the moment a transaction is notified, the Commission generally has a
total of 25 working days to decide whether to grant approval (Phase I) or to
start an in-depth investigation (Phase II).
More information is available on the Commission's competition website, in the
public case register under the case numbers M.7138 and M.6471.
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