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Daily EU Competition News
28 October 2014
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Official Journal
2014/C
381/02
Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.7397 — CD&R/CHC Group) (1)
2
2014/C
381/03
2014/C
381/10
Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.7351 — Henkel/Spotless
Group) (1)
Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.7404 — Aviva/BZ WBK/JVs) —
Candidate case for simplified procedure (1)
2
2014/C
381/11
Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.7406 — Versalis/Lotte Chemical
17
Corporation/Lotte Versalis Elastomers) — Candidate case for simplified procedure (1)
15
Commission - Merger Cases
October
28 oct 2014
M.7433 OTPP / PAMPLONA / CSC (document published)
M.7431 MAPFRE / DL GERMANY / DL ITALY (document published)
M.7387 BP / STATOIL FUEL AND RETAIL AVIATION (document published)
M.7418 BOSCH / ZF LENKSYSTEME (public version of decision published)
M.7406 VERSALIS / LOTTE CHEMICAL CORPORATION / LOTTE VERSALIS ELASTOMERS
(document published)
M.7404 AVIVA / BZ WBK / JVs (document published)
27 oct 2014
M.7423 VINCI / IMTECH ICT (public version of decision published)
M.7389 AEGON SPAIN / SANTANDER TOTTA SEGUROS / AEGON SANTANDER VIDA / AEGON
SANTANDER NÃO VIDA (Notification)
M.7387 BP / STATOIL FUEL AND RETAIL AVIATION (Notification)
M.7333 ALITALIA / ETIHAD (Changed deadline - Commitments submitted)
M.7292 DEMB / MONDELEZ / CHARGER OPCO (Notification)
M.7252 HOLCIM / LAFARGE (Changed deadline - Commitments submitted)
M.7252 HOLCIM / LAFARGE (Notification)
Commission

Mergers: Commission approves acquisition of US producer of digital cinema solutions Doremi
by rival Dolby
The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed
acquisition of Doremi by Dolby, both of the United States. The Commission's investigation
confirmed that, despite the overlap between the two companies' activities in the production of
digital cinema servers (DCS) worldwide and in the European Economic Area (EEA), the proposed
transaction would not lead to any anticompetitive effects because of the presence of alternative
suppliers, the fast-moving nature of the market and the ease of switching for customers. The
Commission's investigation also confirmed the absence of any anti-competitive conglomerate
effects resulting from the combination of the parties' activities in the production of DCS and digital
cinema audio processors

Mergers: Commission approves acquisition of Total's CCP Composite Business by
PCCR USA in chemical sector
The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of Total's
CCP Composite Business of Ireland by PCCR USA, Inc. ('PCCR') of the US. PCCR, a subsidiary
of Polynt Group, is a chemical company producing resins for the coating and composite industry
in the US and Canada. Total's CCP Composite Business consists of a group of companies active
worldwide in the production and the sale of unsaturated polyester resins and gel coats. The
proposed transaction creates overlaps only on the market for the production of unsaturated
polyester resins (UPR), where both companies are active. The Commission concluded that the
proposed acquisition would not raise competition concerns given the moderate presence of both
CCP Composite Business and PCCR on the UPR market, as well as the fact that other strong
players continue to supply the UPR market and to exercise competitive constraints on the merged
entity. The transaction was examined under the normal merger review procedure. More
information will be available on the competition website, in the Commission's public case
register under the case number M.7359 .
Various
“Dutch Competition Authority for Consumers and Markets: ACM maintains price commitments given
for 2009 hospital merger approval”
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets keeps in place the price ceiling that it imposed
in 2009 on treatments performed in the Admiraal De Ruyter Hospital (ADRZ) in the southern Dutch
province of Zeeland. In 2009, ACM cleared the merger between several hospitals in Zeeland after the
merger hospital ADRZ had promised it would honor a price ceiling. The price ceiling is determined by
the average price of treatments of all hospitals in the Netherlands. ACM examined whether the market
conditions since 2009 have changed so much that the then identified near-monopoly position of
ADRZ has diminished, and that ADRZ is once again stimulated enough to make a competitive offer to
health insurers. ACM has come to the conclusion that this is not the
case.
https://www.acm.nl/en/publications/publication/13452/ACM-keeps-in-place-the-price-ceilingimposed-on-southern-Dutch-hospital/
“Holcim and Lafarge Formally Notify Proposed Merger with the European Commission”
Lafarge and Holcim have formally notified the European Commission of their proposed merger in
order to obtain regulatory approval. With this notification, Holcim and Lafarge have now completed all
necessary notifications with regulatory authorities worldwide. During the constructive pre-notification
discussions which Lafarge and Holcim have had with the European Commission, the list of proposed
assets for divestment in Europe has been slightly amended. The commission is expected to set an
initial deadline of December 1 to decide on the
transaction. https://www.euronext.com/content/holcim-and-lafarge-formally-notify-proposed-mergereuropean-commission
“Etihad and Alitalia - EU extends deadline”
Etihad Airways and Alitalia have offered the EU’s antitrust regulator remedies to offset concerns about
their plan to merge. The commitments have pushed the European Commission’s decision deadline
back by 10 working days, to November 17 from November 3. The commission’s case file number
is M.7333.
(As reported in the press)
ANTITRUST
Various
“Latvian competition authority: Latvian court upholds dominance-abuse fine against retailer RIMI
Latvia”
The Latvian Supreme Court upheld a dominance-abuse fine imposed on retailer RIMI Latvia for illegal
rebates granted to dairy producer Valmieras Piens. The court declined to rule on an appeal brought
by RIMI.
(Press release in its original language on: http://www.kp.gov.lv/lv/aktualitates/347augstaka-tiesa-atstaj-speka-kp-lemumu-sodit-mazumtirgotaju-par-atlaizu-uzspiesanu-razotajam )
“FX Traders’ Facebook chats said to be sought in EU Probe”
Foreign-exchange traders’ messages on Facebook Inc. are being sought by European Union antitrust
regulators as they expand a probe into alleged collusion between banks beyond work e-mails and
instant messages, two people with knowledge of the case said. Banks have been asked to supply all
communications between traders, including social media, said three people who didn’t want to be
named because the EU’s requests are private. The EU suspects that some e-mails and online
messages have been erased to destroy signs that traders were illegally swapping information, one of
the people said. “It’s a very important case because the forex markets every day exchange billions
and billions of euros,” EU antitrust chief Joaquin Almunia told Bloomberg TV last month. Regulators
have got “some contributions from people that warned us of the possibility of collusion,” he
said.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-10-27/fx-traders-facebook-chats-said-to-besought-in-eu-probe
“Provision for antitrust fine takes TNT Express to $60 million loss”
TNT Express suffered its first operating loss in five quarters due to a provision for a potential antitrust
fine and restructuring costs. There was a net loss of 55 million euros against six million euros profit
last time.The company set aside 50 million euros to settle an investigation by French trust busters into
alleged anti-competitive behavior that has also targeted rivals including FedEx and the U.K.’s Royal
Mail. Reports also say that TNT’s profits were impacted by its decision to abandon plans to acquire
UPS early last year, a $6.6 billion deal that was met with significant opposition from the European
Commission.
http://www.joc.com/air-cargo/express-cargo/provision-anti-trust-fine-takes-tntexpress-60-million-loss_20141027.html
Antitrust Letter N°16
The "Antitrust Letter" is a monthly series of articles written in french and english by founding member
Thibault Schrepel. Each month’s release will analyze major changes within United States antitrust law
and legal precedents, whilst contrasting and occasionally drawing parallels to European antitrust legal
issues. .
(Read in full text here: https://leconcurrentialiste.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/antitrustletter-16.pdf )
Table of contents:
September: the month of pay-for-delay cases
—
Compliance program ≠ fine reduction
—
On the application of Chinese antitrust law to foreign companies
From Chillin'Competition
-
On the application of competition law to State measures and on the apparent inapplicability of Art.
101(3). (ECJ’s Judgment in Joined Cases C-184/13 to C-187/13, C-194/13, C-195/13 and C-208/13)
Over the weekend I was able to catch up with some readings (notably on two-sided markets in
anticipation of this conference), but also on recent case-law that I hadn’t yet had the chance to read.
Thanks to this exercise I was able to become aware, among other things, of the content of an ECJ
Judgment of 4 September 2014 on which I have read no comment whatsoever. This may be
understandable because the case only deals with interesting legal issues, and not with high-stakes
matters where the law is seemingly absent, which are lately the only ones grabbing commentators’
attention… The Judgment at issue – Anonima Petroli Italiana (“API”)- is a preliminary ruling
responding to questions posed by an Italian Court in relation to an Italian law pursuant to which the
price of road haulage services for hire and reward cannot be lower than minimum operating costs,
which are in turn fixed by a body composed mainly of representatives of the economic operators
concerned. The Italian Court asked, in essence, whether any such legislation was compatible with
Article 101 read in conjunction with Article 4(3) TEU as well as with the Treaty provisions on free
movement of services. (Read the full story fron: Chillin'Competition )
STATE AID
Commission

State aid: Commission approves creation of Portuguese development financial institution
The European Commission has concluded that Portuguese plans for setting up a financial
institution (the Instituição Financeira de Desenvolvimento, IFD), were in line with EU state aid
rules. The IFD, funded by the Portuguese state and European Structural and Investment Funds
(ESIF), will manage holding or specialised funds and provide SMEs with access to funding on a
co-investment basis with private investors. In particular, the Commission found that the measure
would address market failures that hamper SMEs access to finance, without unduly distorting
competition in the Single Market.
European Parliament
-
Recently published:
Answer - Decision on State aid for Hinkley Point C nuclear power station - P-007324/2014
28 October 2014, Commission response - See question(s) : P-007324/2014
VARIOUS
UK – “Speech by David Currie on CMA's focus on devolved nations”
On 27 October 2014, the Competition and Markets Authority published a speech by David Currie,
Chairman of the CMA, on the devolved nations as a key focus for the CMA. He explained that the
CMA's Devolved Nations Team will ensure that the CMA is able to gather insight and understanding
of the particular circumstances of the devolved nations and to promote and explain its work across the
UK. He noted that the CMA is strengthening its capacity to respond effectively to devolution and to
establish and build local relations. Mr Currie explained that the CMA currently has a busy workload,
including 20 live competition enforcement and consumer cases, 30 merger cases and 2 ongoing
phase 2 market investigations. He noted some recent highlights of the CMA's work, including its
proposals to increase price comparison between payday lenders.
Source: Speech given by CMA
Chairman, David Currie, at the CMA board reception in Wales
“Former BayernLB CEO gets suspended sentence for bribery”
A German court on Monday handed former BayernLB Chief Executive Werner Schmidt a suspended
prison sentence of 18 months for bribing an Austrian politician when acquiring Hypo Alpe Adria. The
sentence is one of only a few cases where a German bank manager has faced punishment for
actions that led to the near-failure of a business during the financial crisis. Schmidt, who stepped
down in 2008, has admitted to bribing the now-deceased head of government of Austria's Carinthia
state, Joerg Haider, during negotiations to buy the bank. The sponsorship was requested by Jorg
Haider, then the governor of Carinthia, an Austrian province that partly owned Hypo Alpe, according
to the Local, an Austrian media outlet. Haider had to agree to the bank’s acquisition in order for the
deal to be approved. The court dismissed separate allegations of breach of trust against Schmidt. The
hit that BayernLB took from the Hypo acquisition is still the subject of discussions in other
courtrooms. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/27/bayernlb-hldg-trialidUSL5N0SM2CV20141027
Commission
-
Commission welcomes improved situation for clients of car rental companies
Following constructive dialogue between the European Commission services and three car rental
companies (EUROPCAR, HERTZ and AVIS), they have reaffirmed their commitment to respect the
principle of non-discrimination in the EU Single Market and provided detailed explanations for their
pricing policies. This follows a letter sent to international car rental companies in August, asking them
to end practices preventing consumers from accessing best available prices on the basis of their
country of residence ( IP/14/917 ). After the press release of 8 August 2014, EUROPCAR, HERTZ
and AVIS engaged in detailed and constructive discussions with the European Commission. They
stressed their commitment to be fully compliant with the law. The Commission accepted that source
market pricing could be justified by local market situations (seasonality, different competition
conditions in different countries), provided that consumers were not prevented from making use of the
best available rate. Consumers should have the right to start and finish car rental bookings on any
national website of the companies within the EU.
European Parliament
-
Recently published:
Written question - The impact of the licencing programme of Koninklijke Philip N.V. on competition in
the internal market - E-007795/2014
27 October 2014, Question for written answer to the Commission - E-007795/2014 - Rule 130 - Róża
Gräfin von Thun und Hohenstein (PPE)
New post on Competition Bulletin
-
Competition law and public services: insights from the OFT report into higher education
Recent public sector reforms have relied on choice and competition to increase the quality and
quantity of service provision, whilst also controlling cost, through a programme known as Open Public
Services. The use of choice and competition gives rise to public service markets, and ensuring that
these markets function effectively is one of the Competition and Markets Authority’s
declared objectives. Higher education constitutes one of the larger public service markets, and to
understand how the market for undergraduate education in England functions, in October 2013, the
OFT launched a Call For Information. Amongst other things, the OFT wished to consider whether it
was plausible for universities to have arrived at a uniform fee for all their undergraduate courses
without colluding, and whether the way prospective undergraduates apply for university places could
harm competition between institutions, to the detriment of students. The OFT’s higher education
report, published in March 2014, provides useful insights into the role of competition law in public
service markets and of the challenges of apply competition law in public service markets.
(Read to
full story from Competition Bulletin: http://competitionbulletin.com/2014/10/27/competition-law-andpublic-services-insights-from-the-oft-report-into-higher-education/
Today’s events:
-
antitrustitalia “Antitrust Lunch” – Brussels - Nicholas Banasevic — Head of Unit in unit C3 of DG
Competition dealing with Antitrust — will give a presentation in (in English) on: “The interface between
competition and IP — when can injunctions based on standard-essential patents be
anticompetitive?”
http://www.antitrustitalia.it/
-
Antitrust in Emerging Markets – Brussels - Competition law consultancy RBB Economics, together
with Concurrences Journal and Norton Rose Fulbright, is organising this afternoon conference on
Antitrust in Emerging Markets. The panel discussions will focus on merger review, cartels and
restrictive agreements and abuse of dominance.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/antitrust-inemerging-markets-tickets-12691345155
Articles recently published from Antitrust & Competition Policy Blog:
-
Market Competition in Transition Economies: A Literature Review
Klaus S. Friesenbichler (WIFO), Michael Boheim (WIFO), Daphne Channa Laster provide Market
Competition in Transition Economies: A Literature Review. ABSTRACT: This paper provides a survey
of the effects of market competition in the transition economies of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
The pivotal element of the transition was inter-firm competition, which replaced economic planning as
the method to identify demand. Pro-competitive policies that facilitated the transition are discussed,
including international trade, attracting foreign direct investment and firm entry. Research topics with
respect to competition changed as the transition advanced. The focus shifted from churn and
macroeconomic shock-management in the initial phases toward firm entry, privatisation and
restructuring of incumbents. In the later phases of transition, differentials in aggregate economic
performance became obvious, pointing at institutional differences and their interplay with transitions.
These are equally reflected by the degree of competition of the business environment. Also the
methods changed with the evolution of the research agenda. Early case studies were displaced by
large-scale, cross-country econometric studies as survey data became increasingly
available.
http://www.wifo.ac.at/jart/prj3/wifo/main.jart?contentid=1298017551022&publikation_id=47443&detail-view=yes
-
Supplier Fixed Costs and Retail Market Monopolization
Stephane Caprice, Toulouse School of Economics, Vanessa von Schlippenbach, DIW and Christian
Wey, DICE theorize on Supplier Fixed Costs and Retail Market Monopolization. ABSTRACT:
Considering a vertical structure with perfectly competitive upstream firms that deliver a homogenous
good to a differentiated retail duopoly, we show that upstream fixed costs may help to monopolize the
downstream market. We find that downstream prices increase in upstream firms' fixed costs when
both intra- and interbrand competition exist. Our findings contradict the common wisdom that fixed
costs do not affect market
outcomes. http://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.480930.de/dp1408.pdf
FURTHER INFORMATION
Carine Gaudry
[email protected]
If you have any questions/comments or would like to add colleagues to the distribution list, please contact Carine
Gaudry ([email protected] or + 32 2 239 25 40). Thank you.
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