Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.8195 — Brambles/FR/JV) — Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2016-09-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: carriage of goods, economic concentration, energy industry, merger control, storage








C_2016344EN.01001001.xml










20.9.2016   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 344/10





Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.8195 — Brambles/FR/JV)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2016/C 344/13)






1.


On 13 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 Brambles Industries Limited (‘Brambles’, Australia) and First Reserve Management L.P. (‘FR’, United States) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of a newly created company (‘Newco’) (United Kingdom) by way of purchase of shares and transfer of assets.










2.


The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






—


Brambles is a supply-chain logistic company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and headquartered in Sydney, Australia.










—


FR is a private equity and infrastructure investment firm specialising in the energy industry.










—


Newco will be active in the manufacture, renting, selling and servicing of container and mobile assets solutions to a number of industries, in particular, the oil and gas industry. In particular, Newco will combine the following businesses, currently operated by each of Brambles and FR individually: (i) Ferguson, which rents, sells and services specialist containers and other equipment for the international offshore energy sector; (ii) CHEP Catalyst and Chemical Containers, which provides products and services related to the storage and transportation of fresh, pre-sulfided and spent catalyst; and (iii) Hoover, which manufactures, rents, sells and services fluid, dry cargo and waste management container solutions.














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.8195 — Brambles/FR/JV, 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.