Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11852 – PALOMA RHEEM / FUJITSU GENERAL) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2025-03-19
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: air conditioning, communications systems, economic concentration, electronic device, gas appliance, heating, holding company, information system, merger control, supply








C_202501726EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/1726


19.3.2025






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11852 – PALOMA RHEEM / FUJITSU GENERAL)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2025/1726)


1.   
On 11 March 2025, 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:






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Paloma Rheem Holdings Co., Ltd (‘Paloma Rheem’, Japan), controlled by KMT Asset Management, Ltd (Japan),










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Fujitsu General Limited (‘Fujitsu General’, Japan), controlled by Fujitsu Limited (Japan).




Paloma Rheem will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of Fujitsu General.
The concentration is accomplished by way of a purchase of shares following a public bid announced on 6 January 2025.


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






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Paloma Rheem is a holding company of Paloma Co., Ltd., which operates in the gas water heater and gas stove field in Japan, and Rheem Manufacturing Company, which operates in the water heater and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) fields mainly in North and South America, Europe, and Australia.










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Fujitsu General manufactures and supplies air conditioning equipment and systems for residential, commercial and industrial applications. It is also active in the manufacturing of information and communication systems (which includes firefighting and disaster prevention systems), and electronic devices (focusing on cameras, electronic parts, and semi-assembled components for electronic devices).






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 concentration 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.11852 – PALOMA RHEEM / FUJITSU GENERAL
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/2025/1726/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)