June 12 merger and competition round-up

CTFN's Brussels?Observer?newsletter is curated by Brussels-based European Commission and UK Competition and Markets Authority Reporter,?Michael Bow.?Sign up here to receive CTFN's newsletters directly in your inbox.

In this issue...

• EC hits Booking.com with objections over merger of online travel agents
• Vivendi’s divestments to Czech billionaire in spotlight
• NielsenIQ files remedies to appease EC on GfK merger
• Germany reopens five-year-old Adobe takeover for investigation?
• Hitachi Rail bid for Thales unit hits buffers after CMA objects?????

Calendar

• June 12: The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal holds a case management conference into Microsoft’s appeal against the Competition and Markets Authority. Case page here.?
• June 13: Concurrences hosts the 7th Innovation Economics conference in London, featuring a variety of speakers from EU and UK agencies. More information here.?

Brussels

Holiday Storm | Online travel agent Booking Holdings was hit with a formal warning from the European Commission over its plan to buy Swedish rival eTraveli. The agency issued a statement of objections as part of its Phase II review, citing several concerns. These include Booking entrenching its “dominant” position and increasing costs for hotels. Booking is likely to have to submit remedies to win clearance.?

Czech sphinx | Vivendi’s plan to sell publishing house Editis and gossip mag Gala to Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky will come under the EU microscope after the agency cleared Vivendi’s takeover of Lagardère last week. Vivendi won EC clearance for the Lagardère deal after pledging to sell the titles. Kretinsky’s Czech Media Invest has been lined up, although the EC said any purchaser must first be approved by the agency.?

Market-research market research | The EC will market test remedies for market-research company NielsenIQ after the company submitted commitments for its merger with GfK. The parties have pledged to sell GfK’s consumer-panel business, but the remedy package could contain further concessions. The deal was notified to the EC in March, then withdrawn at the last minute, was notified again in May and is now moving down the remedy route. The EC has moved the deadline for its review to July 4.?

Member states

Germany | Germany’s competition watchdog has opened fresh investigations into a trio of takeovers sealed by software company Adobe up to five years ago. In an unusual move, the Bundeskartellamt has started proceedings on Adobe’s completed acquisitions of Marketo (2018), Magento (2018) and Frame.oi (2021). Germany was one of several member states pushing for the EC to review Adobe’s pending takeover of Figma. The Bundeskartellamt has four weeks to decide.

UK?

Track changes | The CMA will explore whether Hitachi Rail’s proposed takeover of Thales’s train-signaling business merits a divestment remedy — or a full-scale prohibition. The CMA last week provisionally found the deal would lead to less competition for signaling contracts offered by Network Rail and Transport for London. Few companies can bid on contracts, and the deal would further dwindle this number.

Merger updates

• The EC will announce on Thursday, June 15, whether Credit Agricole subsidiary CACEIS has won approval to buy European rival RBC Investor Services.
• A joint venture between Capgemini and Orange was set for a decision by the EC for today, June 12.?
• Six transactions were notified to the EC last week (June 5 through June 9).

Decisions, decisions

• Advent’s combination of Koninklijke DSM’s engineering-materials business and Lanxess’s performance-materials business resulted in market shares of between 20% and 30% in some markets, which was not high enough for the EC to flag serious concerns, this recently published decision shows.?

Trending on CTFN.news

• MMP/OKE: Shareholder to wait for S-4 before deciding on takeover
• ATVI/MSFT: CAT agrees to consider expert reports; FTC to seek injunction
• Software AG shareholder says Silver Lake must hike to €34 per share to win control

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