CELEX: 31992M0220
Language: en
Date: 1992-06-29 00:00:00
Title: COMMISSION DECISION of 29.06.1992 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No IV/M.220 - BIBBY / FINANZAUTO) according to Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 (Only the English text is authentic)

Avis juridique important

|

31992M0220

COMMISSION DECISION of 29.06.1992 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No IV/M.220 - BIBBY / FINANZAUTO) according to Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 (Only the English text is authentic)  

Official Journal C 275 , 23/10/1992 P. 0000

 COMMISSION DECISION of 29.06.1992 declaring a concentration to  be compatible with the common market (Case No IV/M.220 - BIBBY  / FINANZAUTO) according to Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89   (Only the English text is authentic)  The paper version of the decision is available through the  sales offices of the Office of Official Publications of the  European Communities. PUBLIC VERSION MERGER PROCEDURE ARTICLE 6(1)(b) DECISION Registered with advice of delivery To the notifying party Dear Sirs, Subject: <ind> Case No. IV/M.220 - Bibby / Finanzauto <ind> <ind> <ind> Your notification of 25.5.92 pursuant to  Article 4 of Council Regulation No. 4064/89  1.<ind> The notified operation is a public bid by J. Bibby and  Sons PLC for the shares of Finanzauto SA which are quoted on  the Spanish Stock Exchange. Finanzauto is primarily concerned  with the distribution of earth moving equipment in Spain and  Portugal.   2.<ind> After examination of the notification, the Commission  has concluded that the notified operation falls within the  scope of Council Regulation No. 4064/89 and does not raise  serious doubts as to its compatibility with the common market.  Concentration  3.<ind> If Bibby succeeds in acquiring a majority of the shares  of Finanzauto, thereby acquiring control of the company, the  operation will constitute a concentration within the meaning of  Article 3 of the Regulation.  Community Dimension  4.<ind> Bibby is controlled by Barlow Rand Ltd, a South African  conglomerate, which had a worldwide turnover in 1991 of ECU 9  105 million. Finanzauto had a worldwide turnover of ECU 402  million all of which was realised in the Community. The  Community-wide turnover of Bibby was ECU 624 million. The  parties did not achieve more than two-thirds of their  Community-wide turnover within one and the same Member State  and consequently  the concentration has a Community dimension.  Compatibility with the Common Market  5.<ind> Finanzauto's main business is the sale and leasing of  earth moving equipment, fork-lift trucks and industrial motors,  and the sale of spare parts and accesories and maintenance and  technical assistance in connection with these products. Its  business is concentrated in Spain and, through Stet, a 58.9%  owned subsidiary, in Portugal. Finanzauto distributes and  services Caterpillar earth moving equipment and fork-lift  trucks in both countries.  6.<ind> Bibby is an international diversified group of  manufacturing and distribution companies whose principal  activities are the manufacture and distribution of hospital,  laboratory, optical and scientific equipment; paper making and  converting; the manufacture and supply of animal feeds and farm  seeds, and the distribution and servicing of materials handling  equipment. It achieved over 85% of its turnover in the United  Kingdom in 1991. Bibby  distributes and services Hyster fork- lift trucks and, to a significantly lesser extent, fork-lift  trucks of other manufacturers, in the UK, Belgium and the USA.  Barlow Rand, inter alia, distributes both Caterpillar earth  moving equipment and Hyster fork-lift trucks, principally in  South Africa. It has no involvement in these sectors (except  through Bibby) in the Community.  7.<ind> There is therefore, some overlap in the activities of  the parties but they are operating in different countries.  Under the terms of the parties' agreements with the  manufacturers of the earth moving equipment and fork-lift  trucks, they are not able to actively market and sell the  products outside their allocated national territory. In the  absence of any significant volume of passive sales by the  parties into each others territories, it follows that the  concentration does not result in any increase in the parties'  market shares in any of the Member States in which they are  operating. Even if the product markets are narrowly defined as  earth moving equipment and fork-lift trucks respectively,  neither of the parties achieved a market share of more than 25%  in any  of the relevant Member States. The proposed operation  does not involve any vertical relationships or conglomerate  considerations which would adversely affect competition in the  Community. The concentration will  therefore not create or  strengthen a dominant position as a result of which effective  competition will be significantly impeded in the common market  or in a substantial part of it.  For the above reasons the Commission has decided not to oppose  the notified concentration and to declare it compatible with  the common market.  This decision is adopted in application of  Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation No. 4064/89.  For the Commission,