Prior notification of a concentration (Case COMP/M.6478 — Mitsubishi Corporation/Maxingvest/ML Participações/Paraguaçu Participações/Friele/Ipanema) — Candidate case for simplified procedure  Text with EEA relevance
Date: 2012-02-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: coffee, economic concentration, investment company, merger control








C_2012052EN.01001501.xml










22.2.2012   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 52/15





Prior notification of a concentration
(Case COMP/M.6478 — Mitsubishi Corporation/Maxingvest/ML Participações/Paraguaçu Participações/Friele/Ipanema)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
2012/C 52/08






1.


On 13 February 2012, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which the undertakings Mitsubishi Corporation (‘MC’, Japan), Tchibo (Austria) Holdings GmbH (‘Tchibo Austria’, Austria) controlled by Maxingvest ag (‘Maxingvest’, Germany), ML Participações S/A (‘ML’, Brazil), Paraguaçu Participações Ltda (‘PP’, Brazil) and Friele Brazil AS (‘Friele’), ultimately controlled by the Friele family (Norway), acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the undertakings Ipanema Agricola S/A and Ipanema Comercial e Exportadora S/A (together, ‘Ipanema’, Brazil) by way of purchase of shares.










2.


The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






—


for MC: general trading activities in various industries including energy, metals, machinery, chemicals, food and general merchandise,










—


for Tchibo Austria: manufacture and distribution of roasted coffee, other coffee products, and a range of other non-food consumer goods and services. Tchibo Austria is a subsidiary of Maxingvest, a company which is mainly active in the supply of consumer goods and services,










—


for ML: investment vehicle for individuals, for the purpose of investment in Ipanema,










—


for PP: investment vehicle for individuals, for the purpose of investment in Ipanema,










—


for Friele: investment vehicle for Frico Invest AS, for the purpose of investment in Ipanema, and,










—


for Ipanema: the growing, processing, producing, marketing and selling of green coffee beans and roasted coffee.














3.


On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the EC Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved. Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under the EC Merger Regulation (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in the Notice.










4.


The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.
Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. Observations can be sent to the Commission by fax (+32 22964301), by email to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post, under reference number COMP/M.6478 — Mitsubishi Corporation/Maxingvest/ML Participações/Paraguaçu Participações/Friele/Ipanema, to the following address:





European Commission




Directorate-General for Competition




Merger Registry




J-70




1049 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË










(1)  OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘EC Merger Regulation’).

(2)  OJ C 56, 5.3.2005, p. 32 (‘Notice on a simplified procedure’).