Prior notification of a concentration (Case COMP/M.6763 — VWFS/PON Holdings B.V./Pon Equipment Rental & Lease)  Text with EEA relevance
Date: 2013-03-05
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, financial services, merger control, motor vehicle industry, two-wheeled vehicle








C_2013064EN.01001201.xml










5.3.2013   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 64/12





Prior notification of a concentration
(Case COMP/M.6763 — VWFS/PON Holdings B.V./Pon Equipment Rental & Lease)
(Text with EEA relevance)
2013/C 64/10






1.


On 25 February 2013, 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 Volkswagen Financial Services (‘VWFS’, Germany) belonging to Volkswagen Group (‘VW Group’, Germany) and PON Holdings BV (‘PON’, the Netherlands), through their jointly controlled undertaking Volkswagen Pon Financial Services BV (‘VWPFS’, the Netherlands), acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Pon Equipment Rental & Lease BV (‘PERL’, the Netherlands) by way of purchase of shares.










2.


The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






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for VWFS: VWFS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of VWAG, the parent company of the VW Group. VW Group, a publicly traded company with its headquarters in Wolfsburg (Germany), is mainly engaged in the development, manufacture, sale and distribution of motor vehicles, including related spare parts and accessories, diesel engines and motorcycles. VWFS is responsible for coordinating the worldwide financial services activities of the VW Group and specializes in the provision of financial services mainly relating to the distribution and financing of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles of VW Group,










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for Pon: Pon is an international trading, service and (in relation to bicycles only) manufacturing company. As such, Pon is an importer and dealer of high-quality products supplied by various manufacturers, including Volkswagen, Caterpillar, Linde and Continental. Pon operates via its wholly or majority owned businesses and (minority) equity participations and employs approximately 11 000 people throughout various business locations in 21 countries,










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for VWPFS: VWPFS is a joint venture, jointly controlled by VWFS and Pon. VWPFS currently focuses on full fleet leasing and fleet management services of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in the Netherlands. It offers both operational and financial leasing as well as a number of ancillary services,










—


for PERL: PERL, a Dutch wholly-owned subsidiary of PON, is predominantly focused on brands imported and distributed by subsidiaries of Pon (namely MAN-branded trucks and buses as well as equipment and products of the Motrac-Linde and Caterpillar brands). Prior to closing the Proposed Transaction, PERL will divest all activities which do not relate to providing finance solutions for trucks and buses.














3.


On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope the EC Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved.










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 e-mail to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post, under reference number COMP/M.6763 — VWFS/PON Holdings B.V./Pon Equipment Rental & Lease, 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’).