Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11071 – DEUTSCHE LUFTHANSA / MEF / ITA)
Date: 2023-12-08
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: Italy, air transport, economic concentration, holding company, merger control, ministry, public sector








C_202301454EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series C













C/2023/1454


8.12.2023






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11071 – DEUTSCHE LUFTHANSA / MEF / ITA)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2023/1454)


1.   
On 30 November 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:






—


Deutsche Lufthansa AG (Germany),










—


Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (Italy),










—


Italia Trasporto Aereo S.p.A. (Italy) controlled by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance.




Deutsche Lufthansa AG (‘Lufthansa’) and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (‘MEF’) will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Italia Trasporto Aereo S.p.A (‘ITA’).
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


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






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Lufthansa is the holding company of the Lufthansa Group which is headquartered in Cologne, Germany. Its air transport business includes, inter alia, Lufthansa Passenger Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines Ltd., Brussels Airlines S.A./N.V., Austrian Airlines AG, Air Dolomiti L.A.R.E. S.p.A., Eurowings GmbH, EW Discover GmbH, Edelweiss Air AG and its joint venture with Türk Hava Yolları A. O. (Turkish Airlines), Güneş Ekspres Havacılık A.Ş. (‘SunExpress’). DLH operates hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, Brussels, Zurich and Vienna. DLH is also a member of the global airline alliance Star Alliance. Lufthansa is active worldwide,










—


MEF carries out the tasks and responsibilities of the Italian Government in the fields of economic policy, financial policy, budgeting, and tax policies. MEF holds shareholdings in public and strategic companies in Italy, among others in the transport sector (ENAV S.p.A., Ferrovie dello Stato) and is the sole shareholder in ITA. The undertakings in which MEF has shareholdings are active worldwide,










—


ITA is an Italian airline company, created by the Italian State on 9 October 2020, which is active worldwide. It is headquartered in Rome. ITA is wholly owned by the MEF and is a member of the global airline alliance Sky Team.






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.



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.11071 – DEUTSCHE LUFTHANSA / MEF / ITA
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’).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2023/1454/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)