CELEX: 32019M9486
Language: en
Date: 2019-09-02 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 02/09/2019 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.9486 - Groupe Bruxelles Lambert / Webhelp SAS) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                                Brussels, 2.9.2019
                                                                C(2019) 6411 final
                                                                             PUBLIC VERSION
                                                                To the notifying party
Subject:        Case M.9486 – GBL / WEBHELP
                Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation
                                       1
                (EC) No 139/2004 and Article 57 of the Agreement on the European
                                    2
                Economic Area
Dear Sir or Madam,
1.      On 7 August 2019, the European Commission received notification of a proposed
        concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which Groupe
        Bruxelles Lambert (“GBL”, Belgium) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b)
        of the Merger Regulation sole control of the whole of Webhelp SAS and its
        subsidiaries (“Webhelp”, France).3
        The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.
2.      The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
          - for GBL: an investment holding company which invests in global companies
              operating in various sectors and mainly in Europe. The only subsidiary in which
              GBL has a controlling interest is Imerys SA (“Imerys”), a French multinational
              specialised in the production and processing of industrial minerals;
          - for Webhelp: Information Technology (“IT”) service provider active primarily in
              the provision of business process outsourcing services. It offers a range of core
              services such as technical assistance for customer loyalty services and claims
              management, multichannel client data collections, digital and marketing services,
              payment services and enterprise solutions. Webhelp is mainly active in Europe
              but has a worldwide presence.
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 273, 14.08.2019, p. 4.
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--- 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(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)
                                                  Cecilio MADERO VILLAREJO
                                                  Acting Director-General
4  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.
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