Prior notification of a concentration (Case COMP/M.7157 — BPCE/GIMV/Veolia Transport Belgium) — Candidate case for simplified procedure  Text with EEA relevance
Date: 2014-01-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Belgium, bus, carriage of passengers, economic concentration, investment company, merger control, transport company








C_2014027EN.01002401.xml










30.1.2014   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 27/24





Prior notification of a concentration
(Case COMP/M.7157 — BPCE/GIMV/Veolia Transport Belgium)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2014/C 27/12)






1.


On 22 January 2014 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 European Transport Holding Sàrl (‘ETH’, Luxemburg), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cube Transport SCA (‘Cube’, Luxemburg), whose general partner (and manager) is Natixis Environnement & Infrastructures Luxembourg SA (‘NEIL’), itself belonging to the Banques Populaires Caisses d’Epargne group (‘BPCE’, France), on the one part, and GIMV NV (‘GIMV’, Belgium), on the other part, intend to acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the undertaking Veolia Transport Belgium NV (‘VTB’, Belgium) by way of purchase of shares.










2.


The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






—


for ETH: ETH is a subsidiary of Cube Infrastructure Fund, which is an investment fund specialised in infrastructure and public services, in particular in the area of transport, energy supply, power and communication infrastructures,










—


for GIMV: GIMV is a limited liability company organised under the law of Belgium. It is an investment company in private equity and venture capital with a portfolio of some 85 companies. The portfolio is dispersed over different European countries and activity sectors,










—


for VTB: VTB and its subsidiaries are active in the Belgian market for transportation of persons by bus, including line traffic, school traffic, charter bus, personnel transportation. The company also offers travel agency services.














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.7157 — BPCE/GIMV/Veolia Transport Belgium, to the following address:





European Commission




Directorate-General for Competition




Merger Registry




1049 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË










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

(2)  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5 (‘Notice on a simplified procedure’).