Prior notification of a concentration (Case COMP/M.6692 — Circulo/Telefónica/JV) — Candidate case for simplified procedure  Text with EEA relevance
Date: 2013-05-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Spain, book trade, economic concentration, information technology, means of communication, merger control, telecommunications industry








C_2013151EN.01002101.xml










30.5.2013   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 151/21





Prior notification of a concentration
(Case COMP/M.6692 — Circulo/Telefónica/JV)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
2013/C 151/11






1.


On 22 May 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 Telefónica Móviles España SAU (‘TME’, Spain), controlled by Telefónica SA (‘Telefónica’, Spain), and Círculo de Lectores SA (Círculo, Spain), controlled by Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA (‘Bertelsmann’, Germany) and Planeta Corporation SRL (‘Planeta’, Spain), acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control over Yadicán Plus SLU (‘Yadicán’, Spain) by way of purchase of shares. Yadicán is currently wholly-owned by Círculo.










2.


The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






—


TME is active in the provision of IT services,










—


Telefónica is an integrated operator in the telecommunication sector that provides communication, information and entertainment solutions in Europe and Latin America,










—


Círculo is a 50/50 full function joint venture between Bertelsmann and Planeta whose main business activity is the operation of a Spanish language book club which sells books and e-books, and, to a lesser extent, other multimedia products (such as CDs, games and DVDs) to its members,










—


Bertelsmann is an international media company active in TV, book publishing, magazine publishing, music rights management, and media services in more than 50 countries,










—


Planeta is active in the media, publishing and Internet sectors,










—


Yadicán is active in the commercialisation of Spanish language e-books via the Internet in Spain.














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.6692 — Circulo/Telefónica/JV, 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’).