Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.9877 – Pro Diagnostic Group/FutureLife/DISCARE CZ JV) Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance) 2020/C 261/02
Date: 2020-08-10
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, medical centre, medical diagnosis, merger control








C_2020261EN.01000201.xml










10.8.2020   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 261/2






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.9877 – Pro Diagnostic Group/FutureLife/DISCARE CZ JV)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2020/C 261/02)

1.   
On 3 August 2020, 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:






—


Pro Diagnostic Group, a.s (‘PDG’, Slovakia), controlled by Ribera Salud Infraestructuras, S.L.U. (Spain) and Pro Partners Holding, a.s. (Slovakia);










—


FutureLife a.s. (‘FutureLife’, Czechia), ultimately controlled by Mr. Zbyněk Průša;










—


DISCARE a.s. (‘JV’, Czechia), currently solely controlled by PDG.




PDG and FutureLife acquire within the meaning of Articles 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 PDG: it operates 12 diagnostic imaging centres in private health facilities in Slovakia in the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (‘MRI’), X-Ray (‘RTG’), Computed Tomography (‘CT’)/ Positron Emission Tomography (‘PET’) and Ultrasonography (‘USG’) modalities;










—


for FutureLife: active in the provision of healthcare services and laboratories. The FutureLife group companies mainly operate healthcare clinics providing services in the field of assisted reproduction in central Europe. Some group companies also operate outpatient and inpatient clinics specialized in medical care in areas such as rheumatology, andrology, venous surgery, gastroenterology, urology, treatment of Crohn’s disease and other inflammatory bowel diseases, and plastic surgery;










—


for the JV: it will operate a diagnostic imaging centre in the RTG and MRI modalities in Prague.






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.9877 – Pro Diagnostic Group/FutureLife/DISCARE CZ 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.