CELEX: 32020M9726
Language: en
Date: 2020-02-18 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 18/02/2020 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.9726 - ITOCHU / AMCI / POSCO / JVLP / NCR) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                             Brussels,18.2.2020
                                                             C(2020)1038 final
                                                                                 PUBLIC VERSION
                                                             To the notifying parties
Subject:        Case M.9726 – ITOCHU / AMCI / POSCO / JVLP / NCR
                Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation
                                       1
                (EC) No 139/2004 and Article 57 of the Agreement on the European
                                    2
                Economic Area
Dear Sir or Madam,
1.      On 27 January 2020, the European Commission received notification of a proposed
        concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which the
        undertakings Itochu Corporation (“Itochu”, Japan), American Metals & Coal
        International, Inc. (“AMCI”, USA), POSCO Corporation (“POSCO”, South Korea)
        and Jaz Ventures, L.P. (“JVLP”, USA) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b)
        and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control over the whole of the undertaking
        North Central Resources, LLC (“NCR”, USA) by way of purchase of shares.3
2.      The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
             Itochu is active across a wide range of industries including steel products, textiles,
              industrial machinery, electronics, chemicals, food and financial services,
             AMCI is a privately held natural resources investment company, with operations
              in a number of areas affecting energy and metal commodities, including
              investments in coal and minerals, metals and shipping,
             POSCO is involved in a range of mining industries such as iron ore, nickel, coal
              and renewable energy. POSCO currently operates two steel mills in Korea,
             JVLP is a family limited partnership holding a variety of investments in energy
              companies,
1       OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’). With effect from 1 December 2009, the Treaty on
        the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’) has introduced certain changes, such as the
        replacement of ‘Community’ by ‘Union’ and ‘common market’ by ‘internal market’. The terminology
        of the TFEU will be used throughout this decision.
2       OJ L 1, 3.1.1994, p. 3 (the ‘EEA Agreement’).
3       Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 035, 3.2.2020, p. 8.
Commission européenne, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Bruxelles, BELGIQUE
Europese Commissie, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Brussel, BELGIË
Tel: +32 229-91111. Fax: +32 229-64301. E-mail: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu.
 ---pagebreak---        NCR is a joint venture whose aim is to hold, develop, explore, construct and
        exploit commercially a greenfield coking coal project in West Virginia.
3. After examination of the notification, the European Commission has concluded that
   the notified operation falls within the scope of the Merger Regulation and of
   paragraph 5(a) of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of
   certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004.4
4. For the reasons set out in the Notice on a simplified procedure, the European
   Commission has decided not to oppose the notified operation and to declare it
   compatible with the internal market and with the EEA Agreement. This decision is
   adopted in application of Article 6(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation and Article 57 of
   the EEA Agreement.
                                                  For the Commission
                                                  (Signed)
                                                  Olivier GUERSENT
                                                  Director-General
4  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.
                                              2