Opinion of the Advisory Committee on mergers given at its meeting of 28 August 2014 regarding a draft decision relating to Case M.7061 — Huntsman Corporation/Equity Interests held by Rockwood Holdings — Rapporteur: Sweden
Date: 2014-08-28
Institutions: Advisory Committee on Concentrations
Subjects: chemical industry, economic concentration, merger control, office supplies, printer








C_2015067EN.01000401.xml










25.2.2015   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 67/4





Opinion of the Advisory Committee on mergers given at its meeting of 28 August 2014 regarding a draft decision relating to Case M.7061 — Huntsman Corporation/Equity Interests held by Rockwood Holdings
Rapporteur: Sweden
(2015/C 67/05)

Operation









1.


The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that the Notified Transaction constitutes a concentration within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 of 20 January 2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (1) (‘the Merger Regulation’).





Union Dimension









2.


The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that the Notified Transaction has a Union dimension pursuant to Article 1(2) of the Merger Regulation.





Product and Geographic Market









3.


The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission’s definitions of the relevant product and geographic markets as stated in the draft decision.












4.


In particular The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission’s conclusions that:






4.1.


TiO2 for printing ink applications constitutes a separate relevant product market;










4.2.


the relevant geographic market for TiO2 for printing ink applications should be defined as EEA-wide.









Competitive Assessment









5.


The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission’s assessment that the notified transaction is unlikely to give rise to horizontal effects that would lead to a significant impediment of effective competition in the following affected markets: (i) TiO2 for cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and food applications; (ii) TiO2 for fibres applications; (iii) TiO2 for mass applications (coatings, plastics, paper); (iv) ferrous sulphate and filter salts (by-products of the sulphate-based TiO2 production).












6.


The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission’s assessment that the notified transaction, as originally proposed by the notifying party, is likely to give rise to non-coordinated horizontal effects leading to significant impediment of effective competition on the EEA market for TiO2 for printing ink applications.












7.


The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission’s assessment that the Commitments offered by the notifying party on 28 July 2014 remove the competition concerns identified by the Commission in relation to the market for TiO2 for printing ink applications.












8.


The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that, subject to the full compliance with the final commitments offered by the notifying party on 28 July 2014, the notified transaction is not likely to significantly impede effective competition in the internal market or in a substantial part of it.





Compatibility with Internal Market









9.


The Advisory Committee agrees with the Commission that the notified transaction must therefore be declared compatible with the internal market and the functioning of the EEA Agreement in accordance with Articles 2(2) and 8(2) of the Merger Regulation and Article 57 of the EEA Agreement.






(1)  OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1.