Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.8742 — IBM/Maersk/GTD JV) — Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance. )
Date: 2018-03-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: digitisation, economic concentration, harbour installation, information technology industry, logistics, maritime shipping, merger control, multinational enterprise, oil industry








C_2018088EN.01002201.xml










8.3.2018   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 88/22





Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.8742 — IBM/Maersk/GTD JV)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2018/C 88/10)






1.


On 28 February 2018, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).
This notification concerns the following undertakings:






—


International Business Machines Corporation (USA, ‘IBM’),










—


A.P. Møller Mærsk A/S, (Denmark, ‘Maersk’).




IBM and Maersk acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of a newly created company constituting a joint venture, GTD Operations LLC (USA, the ‘JV’). The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.










2.


The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
—   for IBM: multinational corporation active worldwide in the development, production, and marketing of a wide variety of information technology (‘IT’) solutions, comprising software, systems (such as servers and storage systems), and services (such as business consulting and IT infrastructure services),
—   for Maersk: international group with activities in container shipping, terminal services, harbour towage, logistics, and a separate energy division (in particular exploitation of oil and gas, drilling, and operation of tankers),
—   for the JV: development and commercialisation of a trade digitization solution for the global shipping supply chain which will provide end to end shipment visibility and document management for global trade.










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 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. The following reference should always be specified:
M.8742 — IBM/Maersk/GTD JV
Observations can be sent to the Commission by email, by fax, or by post. Please use the contact details below:





Email:




COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu




Fax




+32 22964301




Postal 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.