Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.9384 — Sumitomo Corporation/Nippon Steel Corporation/Standard Steel Holdings) — Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance.)
Date: 2019-06-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, international trade, investment company, iron and steel industry, merger control, vehicle on rails








C_2019203EN.01000301.xml










17.6.2019   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 203/3






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.9384 — Sumitomo Corporation/Nippon Steel Corporation/Standard Steel Holdings)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2019/C 203/03)

1.   
On 6 June 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:






—


Sumitomo Corporation (‘Sumitomo’, Japan),










—


Nippon Steel Corporation (‘NSC’, Japan),










—


Standard Steel Holdings, Inc. (‘Standard Steel’, U.S.), currently controlled by NSC via its wholly-owned subsidiary Nippon Steel North America, Inc.




Sumitomo and NSC acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the whole of Standard Steel. The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
—   for Sumitomo: an integrated trading and investing company, providing a comprehensive range of services and products in Japan and around the world. It is active in various sectors such as: trading of metal products, transportation and construction of systems, environment and infrastructure, chemicals and electronics, media, networks and lifestyle related goods, mineral resources, energy and life sciences,
—   for NSC: manufacturing and supplying of steel products such as steel plate and sheets, steel bars and sections, wire rods, steel pipes and tubes, as well as stainless steel products and titanium products,
—   for Standard Steel: manufacturing forged steel wheels and axles for freight railcars, locomotives and passenger railcars, which operates primarily in North America.


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.9384 — Sumitomo Corporation/Nippon Steel Corporation/Standard Steel Holdings
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.