CELEX: 32014M7200
Language: en
Date: 2014-04-29 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 29/04/2014 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.7200 - LENOVO / IBM x86 SERVER BUSINESS) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

|[pic]                             |EUROPEAN COMMISSION                                                                                      |
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                                        Brussels, 29/04/2014
                                        C(2014) 2955

                                        |To the notifying party:                                                 |                                                                 |
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Dear Madam(s) and/or Sir(s),

Subject:    Case M.7200 – Lenovo/IBM x86 server business
         Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004[1]

 1. On 28 March 2014, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by
    which the undertaking Lenovo Group Limited ("Lenovo", Hong Kong) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole
    control of part of the undertaking International Business Machines Corporation ("IBM", United States  of  America)  by  way  of  purchase  of
    assets. The part of IBM that Lenovo Group Limited proposes to acquire is the x86 server business and related networking assets[2].

 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

      -     for Lenovo: development, manufacturing and marketing of desktop and notebook  PCs,  workstations,  servers,  storage  drives  and  IT
           management software;

      -     for IBM's x86 server business: development, manufacturing, marketing and service of IBM's range of x86 servers and related  products;

 1. 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) of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of  certain  concentrations  under  Council
    Regulation (EC) No 139/2004[3].

 2. 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.

                                        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]   Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 101, 05.04.2014, p. 6.
[3]   OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.

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                                                                  PUBLIC VERSION

                                                           SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE