Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11237 – PSA / DUISPORT / HUPAC / HTS / DGT) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2023-11-13
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia, combined transport, container, economic concentration, harbour installation, holding company, inland transport, merger control, provision of services, rail transport








C_202300904EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series C













C/2023/904


13.11.2023






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11237 – PSA / DUISPORT / HUPAC / HTS / DGT)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2023/904)


1.   

On 7 November 2023, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).



2.   
This notification concerns the following undertakings:






—


Duisburger Hafen AG (‘Duisport’, Germany), ultimately controlled by Beteiligungsverwaltungsgesellschaft des Landes NRW mbH (‘BVG’, Germany),










—


Hupac SA (‘Hupac’, Switzerland),










—


H.T.S. Intermodaal B.V. (‘H.T.S.’, the Netherlands), controlled by H.T.S. Krimpen Beheer B.V., the Netherlands,










—


PSA Belgium Holdings BV (‘PSA’, Belgium), controlled by PSA International Pte. Ltd. (‘PSA International’, Singapore),










—


Duisburg Gateway Terminal GmbH (‘DGT’, Germany), currently controlled by Duisport, Hupac and H.T.S.




Duisport, Hupac, H.T.S and PSA will acquire, within the meaning of Article 3(1), point (b) and Article 3(4) of the Merger Regulation, joint control of DGT.


3.   

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.



4.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






—


Duisport is the owner and management company of the port of Duisburg and offers services associated with, inter alia, the operation of inland ports and logistics. It operates in Germany and worldwide through its subsidiaries,










—


Hupac is an intermodal network operator and provides intermodal land freight transport, focusing on rail services in Europe and Asia,










—


H.T.S. is an intermodal service provider that provides inland container transport and services. It is active in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands,










—


PSA is a holding company in Belgium within the PSA International group. PSA International is a global operator of port terminals,










—


DGT will operate a trimodal rail/ship/road container terminal at the inland port of Duisburg in Germany, which is still under construction and not active yet.






5.   
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.


6.   
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.11237 – PSA / DUISPORT / HUPAC / HTS / DGT
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.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2023/904/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)