Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.8944 — Liberty Global/De Vijver Media and Liberty Global (SBS)/Mediahuis/JV) (Text with EEA relevance.)
Date: 2018-10-11
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Internet, advertising, audiovisual production, economic concentration, holding company, merger control, sale, telecommunications, television








C_2018368EN.01001001.xml










11.10.2018   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 368/10






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.8944 — Liberty Global/De Vijver Media and Liberty Global (SBS)/Mediahuis/JV)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2018/C 368/08)

1.   
On 3 October 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:






—


Telenet Group Holding NV (Belgium), controlled by Liberty Global Plc (United Kingdom)










—


De Vijver Media NV (Belgium) jointly controlled by Telenet Group Holding NV, Mediahuis NV and Waterman&Waterman










—


Mediahuis NV (Belgium), jointly controlled by Corelio NV, Concentra NV, and VP Exploitatie NV










—


a newly created JV (Belgium)




Telenet Group Holding NV acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the whole of De Vijver Media NV (‘DVM transaction’). In addition, Telenet Group Holding NV and Mediahuis NV acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of a newly created JV (‘JV transaction’).
The DVM transaction is accomplished by way of purchase of shares. The JV transaction is accomplished by way of purchase of shares in a newly created company constituting a joint venture.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






—


Telenet Group Holding NV is a cable network operator in Belgium specializing in the supply of broadband internet, fixed and mobile telephony services and cable television to customers throughout Flanders and Brussels. It also operates a number of Pay TV channels, such as Sporting Telenet and PRIME. Telenet is controlled by Liberty Global Plc, a leading international cable company, with TV, broadband, internet and voice telephony operations in twelve countries in Europe and in Latin America.










—


De Vijver Media NV is a Belgian financial holding company of a group of companies active in FTA TV broadcasting and related VOD services, media sale and TV production.










—


Mediahuis NV is a multi-media company in Belgium and the Netherlands.










—


The JV will be a dedicated video advertisement sales house for both its parents and third party inventory owners, complemented with the ability to design and sell cross-media (360°) campaigns.






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.



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.8944 — Liberty Global/De Vijver Media and Liberty Global (SBS)/Mediahuis/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’).