CELEX: 32012M6574
Language: en
Date: 2012-07-02 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 02/07/2012 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.6574 - KPN / DE PERSGROEP / ROULARTA / JV) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

Important legal notice

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32012M6574

Commission Decision of 02/07/2012 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.6574 - KPN / DE PERSGROEP / ROULARTA / JV) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)  

          |EUROPEAN COMMISSION     |
             Brussels, 02.07.2012
             C(2012) 4691
             PUBLIC VERSION
             SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE
                                                                  To the notifying parties: 
             Dear Madam(s) and/or Sir(s),
             Subject: Case No COMP/M.6574 - KPN / DE PERSGROEP / ROULARTA / JV Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004  [1]  
            1.  On 05.06.2012, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which the undertakings KPN Group Belgium nv/sa ("KPN GB", Belgium), De Persgroep NV (''De Persgroep'', Belgium) and Roularta Media Group NV (''Roularta'', Belgium) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the undertaking Hawaii NV by way of purchase of shares in a newly created company constituting a joint venture. 
             The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
              - for KPN GB: a 100% subsidiary of the group held by Koninklijke KPN NV, the incumbent telecommunications provider in the Netherlands. KPN GB is mainly active as a provider of mobile telephony services in Belgium, under its principal brand BASE;
              - for De Persgroep: Belgian family-owned media company, a newspaper publisher in Belgium and the Netherlands, and a magazine publisher in Belgium. De Persgroep and Roularta are jointly controlling Vlaamse Media Maatschappij NV (''VMMa'') which operates a number of Belgian/Flemish TV channels, such as VTM, 2BE, JIM, vtmKzoom and Vitaya;
              - for Roularta: magazine publisher in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Germany; owner of TV channels in Belgium;
              - for Hawaii NV: platform provider of content and telecommunication services, offering mobile devices (smart phones, laptops, tablets) users access to mobile telecommunication and mobile content services [2]  .
            2.  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 [3]  .  
            3.  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
            [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 166, 12.06.2012, p.8
            [3] OJ C 56, 5.3.2005, p. 32.