Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11053 – GROUP CREDIT AGRICOLE / MICHELIN / WATEA) Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance) 2023/C 72/11
Date: 2023-02-28
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: banking, economic concentration, hire purchase, insurance, merger control, pneumatic tyre, vehicle fleet, vehicle rental








C_2023072EN.01005201.xml










28.2.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 72/52






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11053 – GROUP CREDIT AGRICOLE / MICHELIN / WATEA)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2023/C 72/11)

1.   
On 21 February 2023, 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:






—


Crédit Agricole Leasing & Factoring (‘CAL&F’, France), controlled by Group Crédit Agricole (‘GCA’, France),










—


Compagnie Financière Michelin (‘CFM’, France), controlled by Compagnie Générale des Etablissements Michelin (‘Michelin’, France),










—


Watèa (France), controlled by Michelin.




GCA, through CAL&F, and Michelin, through CFM, will acquire within the meaning of Articles 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Watèa.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are the following:






—


GCA is a mutual group offering a wide range of banking and insurance-related services globally and also offers rental financing solutions through its subsidiary CAL&F active in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Italy, Morocco, Spain and Portugal,










—


Michelin manufactures and distributes tires for automotive and other industries globally,










—


Watèa is a company created by Michelin in 2021 offering fleet leasing and fleet management services in France with the aim to support large groups and SMEs in the energy transition of their commercial vehicle fleets towards greener mobility.






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 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.11053 – GROUP CREDIT AGRICOLE / MICHELIN / WATEA
Observations can be sent to the Commission by email or by post. Please use the contact details below:
Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu
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.