Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.9379 — Umicore/Cattierite Holdings Coöperatief) (Text with EEA relevance) 2019/C 364/09
Date: 2019-10-29
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, electricity storage device, holding company, merger control, non-ferrous metal, recycling technology








C_2019364EN.01002801.xml










29.10.2019   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 364/28






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.9379 — Umicore/Cattierite Holdings Coöperatief)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2019/C 364/09)

1.   
On 18 October 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:






—


Umicore, S.A./N.V. (Belgium, ‘Umicore’),










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Cattierite Holdings Coöperatief U.A. (The Netherlands, ‘Cattierite’), controlled by Koboltti Chemicals Holdings Limited (Bermuda, ‘KCHL’). Cattierite is a holding company, which owns and controls another holding company, Carollite Holdings B.V. (The Netherlands), and Freeport Cobalt Oy (Finland, ‘FCO’).




Umicore acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the whole of Cattierite, including FCO’s cobalt refinery and downstream production of battery grade cobalt materials and precursors. KCHL will retain FCO’s non-battery business and some sales for battery applications made by the non-battery business. The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






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for Umicore: supplying cathode materials for lithium-ion rechargeable batteries used in portable electronics and electrified vehicles, as well as supplying metal bonding powders, super alloys and cobalt chemicals for a range of non-battery applications. Umicore is a global materials technology and recycling group. Its activities are organised in three business groups: Catalysis, Energy & Surface Technologies and Recycling,










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for Cattierite: producing battery grade cobalt materials and precursors through the refining of purchased input cobalt materials. Cattierite is a holding company active in this business through its subsidiary FCO.






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.9379 — Umicore/Cattierite Holdings Coöperatief
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’).