Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11088 – LIBERTY GLOBAL / MEDIAHUIS / NRJ GROUP / VLAANDEREN EEN) Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance) 2023/C 190/14
Date: 2023-05-31
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: Internet access provider, advertising, economic concentration, mass media, merger control, telecommunications








C_2023190EN.01001701.xml










31.5.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 190/17






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11088 – LIBERTY GLOBAL / MEDIAHUIS / NRJ GROUP / VLAANDEREN EEN)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2023/C 190/14)

1.   
On 16 May 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:






—


Liberty Global Plc (‘Liberty Global’, United Kingdom),










—


Mediahuis NV (‘Mediahuis’, Belgium),










—


NRJ Group SA (‘NRJ’, France),










—


Vlaanderen Eén NV (‘Vlaanderen Eén’, Belgium).




Liberty Global, Mediahuis and NRJ will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Vlaanderen Eén.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


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






—


Liberty Global: an international converged broadband internet, video, fixed-line telephony and mobile communications services company in several Member States, including through Telenet in Belgium and Luxembourg. Telenet is a provider of retail telecommunications services and parent company of TV broadcaster Play Media (channels PLAY4, PLAY5, PLAY6 and PLAY7),










—


Mediahuis: a leading media group in Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Luxembourg and Germany,










—


NRJ Group: a private media group mainly active in France, in the fields of edition, production, event, TV and radio broadcast and media sales.










—


Vlaanderen Eén: a commercial broadcaster operating Nostalgie Vlaanderen, a Dutch language commercial radio channel with access to FM-frequencies enabling it to cover the entire territory of the Flemish community in Belgium.






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.11088 – LIBERTY GLOBAL / MEDIAHUIS / NRJ GROUP / VLAANDEREN EEN
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.