CELEX: 32022M10539
Language: en
Date: 2022-01-31 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 31/01/2022 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.10539 - SOUTH32 / KGHM / SIERRA GORDA) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                                Brussels, 31.1.2022
                                                                C(2022) 637 final
                                                                                 PUBLIC VERSION
                                                                South32 Limited
                                                                108 St Georges Terrace, Level 35
                                                                Perth, Western Australia
                                                                6000 Australia
                                                                KGHM Polska Miedź S.A.
                                                                M. Skłodowskiej-Curie 48
                                                                59-301 Lubin
                                                                Poland
Subject:        Case M.10539 – SOUTH32 / KGHM / SIERRA GORDA
                Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation
                (EC) No 139/20041 and Article 57 of the Agreement on the European
                                    2
                Economic Area
Dear Sir or Madam,
1.      On 6 January 2022, the European Commission received notification of a proposed
        concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which the
        undertakings South32 Limited (‘South32’, Australia) and KGHM Polska Miedź S.A.
        (‘KGHM’, Poland) intend to acquire within the meaning of Articles 3(1)(b) and 3(4)
        of the Merger Regulation joint control of Sierra Gorda SCM (‘Sierra Gorda’, Chile),
        by way of purchase of shares.3
2.      The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
              for South32: the production of bauxite, alumina, aluminium, metallurgical
                 coal, manganese, nickel, silver, lead and zinc from sites located in Australia,
                 Southern Africa and South America;
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 21, 14.1.2022, p. 5.
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 KGHM: the production of valuable commodities, predominantly metals,
           including copper, silver, gold, molybdenum, nickel, rhenium and lead from
           a number of sites worldwide;
        for Sierra Gorda: the production of copper concentrate and molybdenum
           concentrate (which can be further processed into molybdennym oxide) from its
           mine located in Chile. Sierra Gorda’s copper concentrate also contains limited
           quantities of silver and gold.
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
4  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.
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