Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.8153 — Wilmar/Bunge/Bunge Indo-China Holdings) — Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2016-09-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, fats, food industry, merger control








C_2016339EN.01001001.xml










16.9.2016   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 339/10





Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.8153 — Wilmar/Bunge/Bunge Indo-China Holdings)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2016/C 339/13)






1.


On 8 September 2016, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which the undertakings Siteki Investments Pte Ltd (‘Siteki’, Singapore), belonging to the group Wilmar International Limited (‘Wilmar’, Singapore), and Bunge Agribusiness Singapore Pte Ltd (‘BAS’, Singapore), belonging to the group Bunge Limited (‘Bunge’, United States of America), acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the undertaking Bunge Indo-China Holdings Pte Ltd (‘BIC’, Vietnam), currently solely controlled by BAS, by way of purchase of shares.










2.


The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
—   for Wilmar group: agribusiness with activities in oil palm cultivation, oilseed crushing, edible oil refining, sugar milling and refining, specialty fats, oleochemicals, biodiesel and fertiliser manufacturing as well as flour and rice milling.
—   for Bunge group: food and agribusiness company with activities in the purchase, storage and processing of grains and oilseeds, production and sale of sugar and bioenergy, production and sale of edible oils and fats, creation of milled wheat, corn and rice products for consumers and the production, blend and distribution of fertiliser products for agriculture.
—   for BIC: import of raw soybeans, crushing of soybeans for the production of crude soybean oil, soybean hull, soybean meal and feed grade lecithin for sale to customers in Vietnam.










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 M.8153 — Wilmar/Bunge/Bunge Indo-China Holdings, 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.