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PARALLEL TEXTS
Concentrazioni: la Commissione approva l’acquisizione di Inoxum da parte di Outokumpu, a determinate condizioni
Inglese tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-12-1185_en.htm
Italiano tratto da: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-12-1185_it.htm
Data documento: 07.11.2012
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Mergers: Commission approves Outokumpu's acquisition of Inoxum, subject to conditions
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Concentrazioni: la Commissione approva l’acquisizione di Inoxum da parte di Outokumpu, a determinate condizioni
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Following an in-depth review, the European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Inoxum, the stainless steel division of ThyssenKrupp of Germany, by the Finnish stainless steel company Outokumpu.
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A seguito di un esame approfondito, la Commissione europea ha autorizzato, a norma del regolamento UE sulle concentrazioni, la proposta acquisizione di Inoxum, la divisione “Acciaio inossidabile” della tedesca ThyssenKrupp, da parte dell’impresa siderurgica finlandese Outokumpu.
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The approval is conditional upon the divestiture of Inoxum's stainless steel production facility in Terni, Italy.
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L’approvazione è subordinata alla cessione dell’impianto di produzione di acciaio inossidabile di Inoxum situato a Terni.
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The Commission had concerns that the combination of the two largest suppliers of cold rolled steel products would have given the merged entity the power to raise prices.
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La Commissione temeva che l’associazione dei due principali fornitori di prodotti di acciaio laminati a freddo conferisse all’impresa risultante dalla concentrazione la facoltà di aumentare i prezzi.
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The commitments offered address these concerns.
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Gli impegni offerti tenevano conto di queste preoccupazioni.
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“Stainless steel is a key material for a wide range of products, from household goods to industrial equipment, and an essential input for many European industries.
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“L’acciaio inossidabile è una componente fondamentale di una vasta gamma di prodotti, dai casalinghi alle attrezzature industriali, e un fattore di produzione essenziale per molte industrie europee.
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The divestment of the Italian Terni plant ensures that the creation of a new European market leader will not be detrimental for consumers and businesses in Europe." said Joaquín Almunia, Commission Vice President in charge of competition policy.
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La cessione dello stabilimento di Terni evita che la comparsa di un nuovo leader sul mercato europeo abbia effetti negativi per i consumatori e le imprese europee”, ha dichiarato Joaquín Almunia, Vicepresidente della Commissione responsabile della politica di concorrenza.
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The Commission's in-depth investigation focused on the production of cold rolled stainless steel products in the European Economic Area (EEA).
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L’esame approfondito della Commissione si è concentrato sulla produzione di prodotti di acciaio inossidabile laminati a freddo nello Spazio economico europeo (SEE).
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In this market, the merger will combine the first and the second largest supplier.
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La concentrazione proposta riunirà il primo e il secondo fornitore su questo mercato.
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The transaction, as initially notified, would have created a player three times as big as Aperam of Luxembourg and five times as big as Acerinox of Spain, the closest competitors and respectively the third and fourth player in the market.
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Nella forma notificata inizialmente, l’operazione avrebbe creato un’impresa di dimensioni tre volte superiori a quelle della lussemburghese Aperam e cinque volte superiori a quelle della spagnola Acerinox, i concorrenti diretti, che si collocano rispettivamente al terzo e al quarto posto sul mercato.
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The Commission's investigation found that while imports account for an appreciable part of the EEA market, they are insufficient to constrain price increases, because they are generally not considered fully substitutable by final customers.
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La Commissione ha constatato che, pur rappresentando una parte considerevole del mercato SEE, le importazioni non erano sufficienti a contenere gli aumenti di prezzo, perché in genere non sono considerate totalmente sostituibili dai consumatori finali.
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Moreover, despite their level of spare capacity, it is likely that the two main European competitors of the parties, Aperam and Acerinox, would have found it more profitable to follow price increases by the merged entity rather than competing sufficiently aggressively to prevent them.
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È inoltre probabile che, malgrado il loro livello di capacità inutilizzata, i due principali concorrenti europei delle parti, cioè Aperam e Acerinox, avrebbero considerato più conveniente allinearsi agli aumenti di prezzo dell’impresa risultante dalla concentrazione anziché dar prova di un’aggressività sufficiente a contrastarli.
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Price increases resulting from the transaction, as initially notified, would have likely been much higher than any potential synergies.
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Gli aumenti di prezzo derivanti dall’operazione, quale notificata inizialmente, sarebbero stati probabilmente di gran lunga superiori alle sinergie potenziali.
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In order to address these concerns, the parties offered to divest Inoxum's stainless steel plant in Terni and a number of distribution centres in Europe.
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Per ovviare a questi problemi, le parti hanno proposto di cedere l’impianto di produzione di acciaio inossidabile di Inoxum situato a Terni e un certo numero di centri di distribuzione in Europa.
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The divestment will provide the purchaser with a fully integrated, stand-alone production and distribution business, having access to all major EEA countries.
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Grazie alla cessione, l’acquirente disporrà di un’attività di produzione e distribuzione autonoma pienamente integrata, con un accesso a tutti i principali paesi del SEE.
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At the option of the purchaser, the divestment will include Terni's forge (Societa' delle Fucine) and the large bright annealing line LBA2.
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Per scelta dell’acquirente, la cessione comprenderà la Società delle Fucine di Terni e la grande linea di produzione LBA2.
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The Commission will make sure that this business is sold to a suitable purchaser, as provided in the EU Merger Regulation, and will check that Terni's viability and competitiveness is ensured.
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La Commissione si accerterà che questa attività sia venduta a un acquirente idoneo, a norma del regolamento UE sulle concentrazioni, e che la redditività e la competitività dello stabilimento di Terni sia assicurata.
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The proposed commitments ensure that the merged entity will continue to face a sufficient competitive constraint in the market for the production of cold rolled stainless steel products in the EEA.
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Gli impegni proposti garantiscono che l’impresa risultante dalla concentrazione continui a subire una pressione concorrenziale sufficiente sul mercato per la produzione di prodotti di acciaio inossidabile laminati a freddo nel SEE.
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The Commission therefore concluded that the proposed transaction, as modified by these commitments, would not raise competition concerns.
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La Commissione ha pertanto concluso che l’operazione proposta, come modificata da questi impegni, non desta preoccupazioni sotto il profilo della concorrenza.
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The decision is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments.
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La decisione è subordinata al pieno rispetto degli impegni.
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Background
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Contesto
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Stainless steel is a steel alloy with a minimum content of 10.5% chromium and a maximum of 1.2% carbon.
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L’acciaio inossidabile è una lega di acciaio con un contenuto minimo di cromo del 10,5% e un contenuto massimo di carbonio dell’1,2%.
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It is a high-value product compared to carbon steel and amounts for 2% of the worldwide steel market in volume and 10% in value.
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Ha un valore elevato rispetto all’acciaio al carbonio e rappresenta il 2% in volume e il 10% in valore del mercato mondiale dell’acciaio.
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It is the addition of chromium that provides stainless steel with its stainless properties. One of the main properties of stainless steel is its resistance to corrosion.
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L’aggiunta di cromo conferisce all’acciaio inossidabile le sue numerose proprietà, tra cui in particolare la resistenza alla corrosione.
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Stainless steel is used by a variety of consumer industries and in a wide range of products where resistance to atmospheric and chemical corrosion is necessary and where hygiene may also be essential, such as for household goods and in the automotive industry, building & construction, commercial catering, the chemical and food industries, transportation, etc.
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L’acciaio inossidabile è utilizzato da numerose industrie di consumo e per una vasta gamma di prodotti che devono resistere alla corrosione atmosferica e chimica e per i quali l’igiene è fondamentale (casalinghi, industria automobilistica, edilizia e costruzioni, ristorazione commerciale, industria chimica e alimentare, trasporti, ecc.).
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The proposed transaction was notified to the Commission for regulatory approval on 10 April 2012.
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Come previsto dalla normativa, il 10 aprile l’operazione proposta è stata notificata alla Commissione perché la approvasse.
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On 21 May 2011, the Commission opened an in-depth investigation (see IP/12/495).
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La Commissione ha avviato un esame approfondito il 21 maggio 2011 (vedi IP/12/495).
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The parties were advised in a statement of objections adopted on 9 August 2012 that the merger, as initially notified, raised serious competition concerns in the markets for the production of cold rolled stainless steel products.
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Le parti sono state avvisate, con una comunicazione delle obiezioni adottata il 9 agosto 2012, che la concentrazione, quale notificata inizialmente, poneva seri problemi di concorrenza sui mercati per la produzione di prodotti di acciaio inossidabile laminati a freddo.
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The Commission's investigation found that the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns for the production of slabs, hot rolled stainless steel products, precision strip and ferrochrome.
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Dall’esame della Commissione è emerso che l’operazione proposta non avrebbe creato problemi di concorrenza per la produzione di bramme, prodotti di acciaio inossidabile laminati a caldo, nastro di precisione e ferrocromo.
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The Commission also concluded that transaction would not raise concerns with regard to the distribution of stainless steel products.
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La Commissione ha concluso altresì che l’operazione non avrebbe creato problemi riguardo alla distribuzione di prodotti di acciaio inossidabile.
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Companies and products
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Imprese e prodotti
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Outokumpu is a Finnish company listed on the Helsinki stock exchange. It is the parent company of a group that produces and distributes stainless steel products globally.
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Outokumpu, un’impresa finlandese quotata alla borsa di Helsinki, è la società madre di un gruppo che produce e distribuisce prodotti di acciaio inossidabile in tutto il mondo.
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It also produces ferrochrome.
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Outokumpu produce anche ferrocromo.
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Inoxum is the stainless steel division of the Germany company ThyssenKrupp AG. Inoxum produces and distributes stainless steel and high alloy products.
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Inoxum, la divisione “Acciaio inossidabile” della tedesca ThyssenKrupp AG, produce e distribuisce prodotti di acciaio inossidabile e ad alta lega.
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Merger control rules and procedures
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Procedure e norme di controllo in materia di 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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Currently, there are three other on-going phase II investigations.
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Attualmente, vi sono altre tre indagini di seconda fase ancora in corso.
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The first case concerns the proposed acquisition of Orange Austria by Hutchison in the market for mobile telephony services in Austria (see IP/12/726).
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Il primo caso riguarda la proposta acquisizione di Orange Austria da parte di Hutchison sul mercato austriaco dei servizi di telefonia mobile (vedi IP/12/726);
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The deadline for a final decision is 21 December 2012.
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il termine per la decisione finale è il 21 dicembre 2012.
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In the second phase II case, the Commission investigates the planned takeover of small package delivery company TNT Express by rival UPS (see IP/12/816), with a deadline on 15 January 2013.
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Nel secondo caso, la Commissione indaga sulla prevista acquisizione della piccola società di consegna pacchi TNT Express da parte della concorrente UPS (vedi IP/12/816); il termine per la decisione è il 15 gennaio 2013.
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Finally, the third phase II relates to low cost aviation company Ryanair's plans to buy the Irish air transport company Aer Lingus (see IP/12/921).The deadline here is 6 February 2013. |
Il terzo caso riguarda l’intenzione della compagnia aerea low cost Ryanair di acquistare la compagnia aerea irlandese Aer Lingus (vedi IP/12/921); il termine è il 6 febbraio 2013. |
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LISTEN WITH READSPEAKER
Mergers: Commission approves Outokumpu's acquisition of Inoxum, subject to
conditions
Following an in-depth review, the European Commission has cleared under
the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Inoxum, the stainless steel
division of ThyssenKrupp of Germany, by the Finnish stainless steel company
Outokumpu.
The approval is conditional upon the divestiture of Inoxum's stainless
steel production facility in Terni, Italy.
The Commission had concerns that the combination of the two largest
suppliers of cold rolled steel products would have given the merged entity the
power to raise prices.
The commitments offered address these concerns.
“Stainless steel is a key material for a wide range of products, from
household goods to industrial equipment, and an essential input for many
European industries.
The divestment of the Italian Terni plant ensures that the creation of
a new European market leader will not be detrimental for consumers and
businesses in Europe." said Joaquín Almunia, Commission Vice President in charge
of competition policy.
The Commission's in-depth investigation focused on the production of
cold rolled stainless steel products in the European Economic Area (EEA).
In this market, the merger will combine the first and the second
largest supplier.
The transaction, as initially notified, would have created a player
three times as big as Aperam of Luxembourg and five times as big as Acerinox of
Spain, the closest competitors and respectively the third and fourth player in
the market.
The Commission's investigation found that while imports account for an
appreciable part of the EEA market, they are insufficient to constrain price
increases, because they are generally not considered fully substitutable by
final customers.
Moreover, despite their level of spare capacity, it is likely that the
two main European competitors of the parties, Aperam and Acerinox, would have
found it more profitable to follow price increases by the merged entity rather
than competing sufficiently aggressively to prevent them.
Price increases resulting from the transaction, as initially notified,
would have likely been much higher than any potential synergies.
In order to address these concerns, the parties offered to divest
Inoxum's stainless steel plant in Terni and a number of distribution centres in
Europe.
The divestment will provide the purchaser with a fully integrated,
stand-alone production and distribution business, having access to all major EEA
countries.
At the option of the purchaser, the divestment will include Terni's
forge (Societa' delle Fucine) and the large bright annealing line LBA2.
The Commission will make sure that this business is sold to a suitable
purchaser, as provided in the EU Merger Regulation, and will check that Terni's
viability and competitiveness is ensured.
The proposed commitments ensure that the merged entity will continue to
face a sufficient competitive constraint in the market for the production of
cold rolled stainless steel products in the EEA.
The Commission therefore concluded that the proposed transaction, as
modified by these commitments, would not raise competition concerns.
The decision is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments.
Background
Stainless steel is a steel alloy with a minimum content of 10.5%
chromium and a maximum of 1.2% carbon.
It is a high-value product compared to carbon steel and amounts for 2% of the
worldwide steel market in volume and 10% in value.
It is the addition of chromium that provides stainless steel with its stainless
properties. One of the main properties of stainless steel is its resistance to
corrosion.
Stainless steel is used by a variety of consumer industries and in a wide range
of products where resistance to atmospheric and chemical corrosion is necessary
and where hygiene may also be essential, such as for household goods and in the
automotive industry, building & construction, commercial catering, the chemical
and food industries, transportation, etc.
The proposed transaction was notified to the Commission for regulatory
approval on 10 April 2012.
On 21 May 2011, the Commission opened an in-depth investigation (see IP/12/495).
The parties were advised in a statement of objections adopted on 9 August 2012
that the merger, as initially notified, raised serious competition concerns in
the markets for the production of cold rolled stainless steel products.
The Commission's investigation found that the proposed transaction would raise
no competition concerns for the production of slabs, hot rolled stainless steel
products, precision strip and ferrochrome.
The Commission also concluded that transaction would not raise concerns with
regard to the distribution of stainless steel products.
Companies and products
Outokumpu is a Finnish company listed on the Helsinki stock exchange.
It is the parent company of a group that produces and distributes stainless
steel products globally.
It also produces ferrochrome.
Inoxum is the stainless steel division of the Germany company ThyssenKrupp AG.
Inoxum produces and distributes stainless steel and high alloy products.
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).
Currently, there are three other on-going phase II investigations.
The first case concerns the proposed acquisition of Orange Austria by Hutchison
in the market for mobile telephony services in Austria (see IP/12/726).
The deadline for a final decision is 21 December 2012.
In the second phase II case, the Commission investigates the planned takeover of
small package delivery company TNT Express by rival UPS (see IP/12/816), with a
deadline on 15 January 2013.
Finally, the third phase II relates to low cost aviation company Ryanair's plans
to buy the Irish air transport company Aer Lingus (see IP/12/921)The deadline
here is 6 February 2013. |