CELEX: 32016M7855
Language: en
Date: 2016-01-18 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 18/01/2016 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.7855 - AGEAS / AXA PORTUGAL) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

|[pic]                             |EUROPEAN COMMISSION                                                                                      |

                                        Brussels, 18.1.2016
                                        C(2015) 277 final

                                        [pic]

|To the notifying party:                                                |
|                                                                       |

Dear Sirs,

Subject:    Case M.7855 - AGEAS / AXA PORTUGAL
         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 11 December 2015, the European Commission received notification of  a  proposed  concentration  pursuant  to  Article  4  of  the  Merger
    Regulation by which Ageas Portugal Holdings SGPS, S.A. ("Ageas Portugal ", Portugal) an indirect wholly owned  subsidiary  of  ageas  SA/NV,
    ("Ageas" Belgium), acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the  Merger Regulation sole control of: (i) Axa Portugal, Companhia  de
    Seguros, S.A.; (ii) Axa Portugal, Companhia de Seguros de Vida, S.A.; and (iii) the unincorporated business of direct property and  casualty
    insurance operated by Axa Global Direct Seguros y Reaseguros S.A.U. through its Portuguese branch (together “Axa Portugal”, Portugal).[3]

 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

      – for Ageas: provision of  life and non-life insurance services to  individuals,  business  and  institutional  customers  in  several  EEA
        countries and in Asia;

      – for Axa Portugal: provision of  insurance products and services, in both the non-life and life insurance in Portugal.

 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 paragraph 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)
                                        Johannes LAITENBERGER
                                        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 425, 18.12.2015, p. 22.

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

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                                                                  PUBLIC VERSION

                                                           SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE