CELEX: 32021M10244
Language: en
Date: 2021-09-14 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 14/09/2021 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.10244 - VODAFONE GROUP / SAFARICOM / SUMITOMO / ETHIOPIA JV) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                              Brussels, 14.09.2021
                                                              C(2021) 6770 final
                                                                               PUBLIC VERSION
                                                              Vodafone Group Plc
                                                              One Kingdom Street,
                                                              Paddington Central
                                                              W2 6BY London
                                                              United Kingdom
                                                              Safaricom Plc
                                                              Safaricom House, Waiyaki Way,
                                                              P.O. Box 66827-00800
                                                              13263 Nairobi
                                                              Kenya
                                                              Sumitomo Corporation
                                                              2-3-2 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku
                                                              100-8601 Tokyo
                                                              Japan
Subject:        Case M.10244 – VODAFONE GROUP / SAFARICOM / SUMITOMO /
                ETHIOPIA JV
                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 23 August 2021, the European Commission received notification of a proposed
        concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which Vodafone
        Group Limited (“Vodafone Group”, United Kingdom), Safaricom Plc (“Safaricom”,
        Kenya) and Sumitomo Corporation (“Sumitomo”, Japan) intend to acquire, within the
        meaning of Articles 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation, joint control over the
        Global Partnership for Ethiopia B.V. (together with its subsidiaries, the “Ethiopia JV”,
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’).
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---    Ethiopia). The concentration is accomplished 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 Vodafone Group: a telecommunications group active in Europe and Africa.
            The Vodafone group operates mobile and fixed networks in 21 countries and
            partners with mobile networks in an additional 48 countries,
       − for Safaricom: a telecommunications operator in Kenya,
       − for Sumitomo: a global trading and investment company, conducting business
            activities across a wide range of industries in 66 countries and regions,
       − for Ethiopia JV: a newly established joint venture for the purpose of operating
            a full telecommunications licence to provide telecommunication services in
            Ethiopia.
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(a) 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
3  Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 348, 30.8.2021, p. 3.
4  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.
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