CELEX: 32015M7713
Language: en
Date: 2015-08-31 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 31/08/2015 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.7713 - REWE ZF / KUONI REISEN AND RELATED GROUP COMPANIES) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

|[pic]                             |EUROPEAN COMMISSION                                                                                      |

                                        Brussels, 31.08.2015
                                        C(2015) 6126 final

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|To the notifying party:                                                |                                                                       |
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Dear Sirs,

Subject:    Case M.7713 – REWE ZF/ KUONI REISEN AND RELATED GROUP COMPANIES
         Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004[1] and Article 57 of the Agreement on the
         European Economic Area[2]

 1. On 05 August 2015, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger  Regulation
    by which REWE-Zentralfinanz eG ("REWE ZF", Germany), a wholly owned subsidiary of REWE Group, acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b)
    of the Merger Regulation sole control of part of the travel division of  Kuoni  Investments  (the  "Target  Companies")  from  Kuoni  Travel
    Investments Ltd ("Kuoni Investments", Switzerland), by way of purchase of shares.[3]

 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

      REWE ZF belongs to the REWE Group, active in the food and non-food retail sector, as well as in the field of travel and  tourism.  REWE  ZF
      provides tour operator and travel agency services, predominantly to customers in Germany and Austria.

      The Target Companies consist of four units of the travel division of Kuoni Investments: Kuoni Benelux, Kuoni Nordic,  Kuoni  UK  and  Kuoni
      Switzerland (including Kuoni Reisen AG). They offer tour operator and travel agency  services  mainly  to  customers  in  Switzerland,  UK,
      Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands and Belgium.

 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(c) and 6 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)
                                        Alexander ITALIANER
                                        Director-General
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[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 265, 13.08.2014, p. 4.

[4]   OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.

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                                                                  PUBLIC VERSION

                                                           SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE