Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11365 – FORD / BMW / HONDA / JV) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2023-12-21
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, electric vehicle, electricity storage device, financial services, hire purchase, merger control, motor vehicle industry, smart technology, vehicle parts, vehicle rental








C_202301606EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series C













C/2023/1606


21.12.2023






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11365 – FORD / BMW / HONDA / JV)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2023/1606)


1.   
On 13 December 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:






—


Ford Motor Company (‘Ford’, USA),










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BMW (US) Holding Corp. (‘BMW USH’, USA), ultimately controlled by Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft (‘BMW’, Germany),










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American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (‘AHM’, USA), ultimately controlled by Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (‘Honda’, Japan),










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ChargeScape, LLC (‘ChargeScape’), a company yet to be formed in the US.




Ford, BMW USH, and Honda will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of ChargeScape.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares in a newly created company constituting a joint venture.


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






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Ford Group is an international automotive group which designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of Ford trucks, utility vehicles, and cars – increasingly including electrified versions – and Lincoln luxury vehicles. Ford Group also provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company and is active in electrification, mobility solutions (including self-driving services) and connected vehicle services,










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BMW Group is a worldwide manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles including spare parts and necessary equipment. BMW Group also provides financial, leasing and car renting services (i.e. mobility services and solutions) for private and business customers. BMW Group owns four brands: BMW, Mini, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and BMW Motorrad,










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Honda Group is a Japan-based original equipment manufacturer that produces and sells automobiles (incl. plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles), motorcycles and power products (e.g. general purpose engines such as generators) and aircrafts (personal aircrafts, jets, and their parts),










—


the business activities of ChargeScape will be the provision of grid services to electric utility companies and system operators in the US and Canada, by way of smart load management and aggregation of EV battery energy data.






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 treatment for certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (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.11365 – FORD / BMW / HONDA / 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 160, 5.5.2023, p. 1.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2023/1606/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)