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Investigation opened into Cemex’s planned acquisition of Holcim’s Spanish operations

World Cement,


The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether the planned acquisition of the Spanish operations of Swiss building materials group Holcim by its Mexican rival Cemex is in line with the EU Merger Regulation. The Commission has concerns that the transaction may reduce competition in certain areas of Spain where the two companies' activities overlap. The opening of an in-depth inquiry does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation. The Commission now has 90 working days, until 5 September 2014, to take a decision.

Cemex intends to acquire sole control over the whole of Holcim's activities in cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates and mortar in Spain.

The Commission's initial market investigation indicated that the proposed transaction may substantially lessen competition in the market for grey cement in certain areas of Spain.

The Commission's assessment takes account of the specific characteristics of the cement industry in some areas of Spain, including the high level of concentration, high entry costs, the importance of commercial and structural links between firms and the level of transparency of cement prices and output. In this context, the removal of Holcim could facilitate coordination between the remaining competitors in this market. Indeed, collusion based on an allocation of customers and parallel increase of prices could become more effective and sustainable because of the reduction in the number of independent competitors and the fact that the remaining players would be more similar (so-called “market symmetry”).

Moreover, the Commission's investigation has shown that the merged entity might be able to exercise significant influence on the level of prices for grey cement in certain other areas, where the parties are strong rivals and the remaining competitors (such as Cementos La Cruz and Cementos La Unión among others) might not be able to react to a price increase.

The Commission will now investigate the proposed acquisition in-depth to determine whether its initial concerns are confirmed or not. The case was notified to the Commission on 28 February 2014.

Background

The Cemex/Holcim assets transaction is linked to two other transactions: Through the first related transaction Cemex intends to acquire control of the whole of Holcim's activities in cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates in the Czech Republic. This operation was cleared by the Czech competition authority in March 2014, as it mainly concerns competition on the Czech market. In another linked transaction, Holcim intends to acquire certain assets of Cemex located in western Germany. The Commission opened an in-depth investigation into that transaction in October 2013. The opening of today's in-depth investigation is without prejudice to the outcome of Holcim/Cemex West case for which the deadline is 8 July 2014.

The Cemex/Holcim assets transaction does not meet the turnover thresholds of the EU Merger Regulation. However, following a referral request from Spain, the Commission accepted to assess the transaction related to Spain.

Abridged European Commission press release.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/23042014/european_commission_opens_investigation_into_holcim_cemex_spanish_asset_acquisition_67/

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