CELEX: 32014M7193
Language: en
Date: 2014-03-26 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 26/03/2014 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.7193 - GORES / PREMIER FOODS / HOVIS) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

|[pic]                             |EUROPEAN COMMISSION                                                                                      |

                                        Brussels, 26.3.2014
                                        C(2014) 2142 final

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|To the notifying parties:                                          |                                                                          |

Dear Madam(s) and/or Sir(s),

Subject:    Case M.7193 - GORES / PREMIER FOODS / HOVIS
         Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004[1]

 1. On 18 February 2014, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation
    by which the Gores Group LLC ("Gores", USA) and Premier Foods plc. ("Premier Foods", United Kingdom) acquire within the  meaning  of  Article
    3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of a newly created company  constituting  a  joint  venture  Hovis  Limited  ("Hovis",  United
    Kingdom) by way of purchase of shares.[2]

 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

1 for Gores: private equity investor primarily active in the United States and Western Europe,

2 for Premier Foods: manufacture and supply of grocery products, including bread and bakery products, flour,  cakes,  convenience  foods,  soups,
       cooking sauces, desserts, stocks and gravies mainly in the United Kingdom,

3 for Hovis: manufacture and supply of flour and baked goods.

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

 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.

                                        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 70, 8.3.2014, p. 4.

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

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                                                                  PUBLIC VERSION

                                                           SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE