CELEX: 32016M7841
Language: en
Date: 2016-03-03 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 03/03/2016 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.7841 - AVRIL POLE ANIMAL / TÖNNIES INTERNATIONAL HOLDING / JV) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

|[pic]                             |EUROPEAN COMMISSION                                                                                      |

                                        Brussels, 03.03.2016
                                        C(2016) 1479 final

|PUBLIC VERSION                                   |
|                                                 |
|SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE                      |

|                                                                       |To the notifying parties:                                              |

Dear Sirs,

Subject:    Case M.7841 - AVRIL POLE ANIMAL / TÖNNIES INTERNATIONAL HOLDING / JV
         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 10 February 2016, the European Commission received notification of  a  proposed  concentration  pursuant  to  Article  4  of  the  Merger
    Regulation by which the undertakings Avril Pôle Animal ('APA', France),  belonging  to  the  Avril  group  ('Avril',  France),  and  Tönnies
    International Holding Gmbh (Germany), belonging to the Tönnies group ('Tönnies', Germany) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b)  and
    3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of a newly created company ('NewCo', France) constituting a joint-venture.[3]

 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

      – for Avril: activities throughout the oil and protein sectors including the slaughtering of pigs and the production,  marketing  and  sale
        of pork products for human and animal consumption,

      – for Tönnies: purchasing and slaughtering of pigs and beef cattle, the processing, packaging and sale of meat products,

      – for NewCo: processing, packaging and sale of fresh French origin pork and beef products to the retail channel for human consumption.

 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)
                                        Johannes LAITENBERGER
                                        Director-General
-----------------------
[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 60, 16.2.2016, p. 12.

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