CELEX: 32021M10208
Language: en
Date: 2021-05-19 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 19/05/2021 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.10208 - THE COCA-COLA COMPANY / COCA-COLA HBC / WABI CCH JV) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                                Brussels, 19.05.2021
                                                                C(2021) 3689 final
                                                                                 PUBLIC VERSION
                                                                The Coca-Cola Company
                                                                Beverage Services Ltd
                                                                1A Wimpole Street
                                                                London, W1G 0EA
                                                                United Kingdom
                                                                Coca-Cola HBC AG
                                                                Turmstrasse 26
                                                                6312 Steinhausen
                                                                Switzerland
Subject: Case M.10208 — The Coca-Cola Company/Coca-Cola HBC/WABI CCH JV
              Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC)
                              1                                                                           2
              No 139/2004 and Article 57 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area
Dear Sir or Madam,
1.      On 21 April 2021, the European Commission received notification of a proposed
        concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which The Coca-Cola
        Company (‘TCCC’, United States) and Coca-Cola HBC AG (‘CCH’, Switzerland)
        intend to acquire within the meaning of Articles 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger
        Regulation joint control of WABI CCH B.V. (‘WABI CCH JV’, the Netherlands) by
        way of purchase of shares in a newly created company constituting a joint venture.3
2.      The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
             for TCCC: worldwide brand ownership and licensing of various trademarks used
              to market and sell non-alcoholic commercial beverages; production of soft drink
              concentrate and syrup, as well as finished beverages,
             for CCH: producing, marketing, and selling TCCC-branded and other beverages
              in the EU, Eurasia and Africa,
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 (the ‘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 154, 30.4.2021, p. 12.
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---        for WABI CCH JV: providing digital marketplace services connecting
        wholesalers, retailers, suppliers and consumers of consumer packaged 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
   paragraphs 5(a) and 5(b) 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.
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