Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11163 – TRAFIGURA / MOTA-ENGIL / LAH / JV) Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance) 2023/C 204/15
Date: 2023-06-12
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: carriage of goods, economic concentration, logistics, merger control, metals, mineral resources, multinational enterprise, petroleum, primary product, rail network, subsidiary








C_2023204EN.01003701.xml










12.6.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 204/37






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11163 – TRAFIGURA / MOTA-ENGIL / LAH / JV)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2023/C 204/15)

1.   
On 5 June 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:






—


Trafigura Lobito Investments PTE Ltd (‘Trafigura’, Singapore), a subsidiary of Trafigura Group PTE Ltd, the main holding company of the Trafigura Group,










—


ME Lobito SGPS, LDA (‘Mota-Engil’, Portugal), a subsidiary of Mota-Engil SGPS S.A., the main holding company of the Mota-Engil Group,










—


Lobito Atlantic Holdings SGPS, LDA (‘LAH’, Portugal), a new jointly controlled entity.




Trafigura and Mota-Engil will acquire within the meaning of Articles 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of LAH.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned and of the new jointly controlled entity are the following:






—


The Trafigura Group is an independent commodity trader, specialising in the oil, minerals and metals markets. The Trafigura Group has two main lines of business, namely physical commodity trading and related logistics including shipping and chartering, and various activities relating to industrial infrastructure,










—


The Mota-Engil Group is a multinational corporation with operations focused on construction and infrastructure management in the engineering and construction, environment and services, transport concessions and energy sectors. The Mota-Engil Group operates across 22 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa,










—


LAH through its operating subsidiary Lobito Atlantic Railway, S.A. will construct, maintain and operate the Lobito-Luau railway line located in Angola for the purposes of transporting goods between the Angolan port city of Lobito and surrounding areas, such as the Copperbelt region of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.






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.11163 – TRAFIGURA / MOTA-ENGIL / LAH / JV
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.