Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.9355 — VW Group/Intel/Allied Holdings/JV) — Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance.)
Date: 2019-05-14
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: carriage of passengers, driving mechanism, economic concentration, financial services, insurance, investment company, merger control, motor vehicle industry, new technology, service








C_2019165EN.01003801.xml










14.5.2019   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 165/38






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.9355 — VW Group/Intel/Allied Holdings/JV)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2019/C 165/09)

1.   
On 3 May 2019, 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:






—


Volkswagen Finance Luxembourg S.A. (‘VWFL’, Luxembourg), controlled by Volkswagen AG (Germany) and belonging to the Volkswagen Group (‘VW Group’, Germany);










—


Mobileye Vision Technologies Ltd (‘Mobileye’, Israel), controlled by Intel Corporation (‘Intel’, USA);










—


Champion Motors Ltd (‘Champion Motors’, Israel), controlled by Allied Holdings Ltd (‘Allied Holdings’, Israel); and










—


the Joint Venture (‘JV’, Israel).




VW Group, Intel and Allied Holdings acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the JV. The concentration 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:
—   for VWFL: an investment company and wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, active worldwide in the development, manufacture, marketing and sale of passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, trucks, buses, coaches, chassis for buses and diesel engines, motor bikes, each including spare parts and accessories as well as related financial and insurance services as well as mobility and connectivity service solutions;
—   for Mobileye: active in the development of computer vision and machine learning, data analysis, localization and mapping for advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving. Mobileye is a subsidiary of Intel, a leading producer of semiconductor chips;
—   for Champion Motors: the direct importer and distributor in Israel of the Volkswagen, Skoda, Audi and Seat brands. Champion Motors is a subsidiary of Allied Holding, an Israeli investment holding company;
—   for the JV: a newly created joint venture which will operate a Mobility-as–a-Service (‘MaaS’) offer, more specifically a ride hailing service based on a fleet of electric self-driving vehicles, in Israel.


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.9355 — VW Group/Intel/Allied Holdings/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.