Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.8082 — General Motors France/Groupe Dubreuil/CLARO) — Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2016-07-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, merger control, motor vehicle industry, retail trade, wholesale trade








C_2016239EN.01001801.xml










1.7.2016   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 239/18





Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.8082 — General Motors France/Groupe Dubreuil/CLARO)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2016/C 239/07)






1.


On 23 June 2016, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which General Motors France SAS (of France) and Groupe Dubreuil (of France) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control by way of purchase of shares in a joint venture CLARO (of France).










2.


The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






—


General Motors France SAS is a subsidiary of General Motors Company. General Motors Company and its subsidiaries (‘GM Group’) are active in the manufacture, supply and distribution of motor vehicles and original equipment (‘OE’) spare parts of various brands. Within the GM Group, GM France is primarily in charge of the importation and wholesale distribution of GM-branded vehicles and the supply of GM branded OE spare parts in France, mainly of the Opel brand.










—


Groupe Dubreuil is primarily active in the retail distribution of new and used motor vehicles and of OE spare parts of various brands. It is also active in the distribution of OE spare parts of various brands and offers accessory services including maintenance and car rental services at the points of sale of its subsidiaries.










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CLARO is the joint venture to be established between GM France and Groupe Dubreuil. CLARO will be active in the retail distribution of Opel branded passenger cars and commercial vehicles, used vehicles, maintenance and repair services and the provision of Opel branded products and services from several points of sale in Western France.














3.


On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the 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 Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in this 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 M.8082 — General Motors France/Groupe Dubreuil/CLARO, 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 ‘Merger Regulation’).

(2)  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.