Commission Decision of 31/05/2011 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.6246 - OJSC NOVOLIPETSK STEEL / STEEL INVEST & FINANCE) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic) |EUROPEAN COMMISSION | Brussels , 31.5.2011 C(2011) 3946 final PUBLIC VERSION SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE To the notifying party Dear Madam(s) and/or Sir(s), Subject: Case No COMP/M.6246 - OJSC NOVOLIPETSK STEEL / STEEL INVEST & FINANCE Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 [1] 1. On 28/04/2011, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which by which OJSC Novolipetsk Steel (“NLMK”, Russia) acquires sole control within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of Steel Invest & Finance (Luxembourg) S.A.
(“SIF”, Luxembourg) by way of purchase of shares. SIF is presently under the indirect joint control of NLMK and Duferco Participations Holding Limited (Duferco). Concurrently with (or shortly following) the completion of the Transaction, certain businesses presently directly or indirectly controlled by SIF will be spun-off by the SIF group and will be transferred to [Duferco]*. The Spin-Off Businesses are: Carsid S.A., and the following assets and activities of Duferco La Louvière S.A. and its affiliates: the electric arc furnace and wire rod mill located at the company’s site at La Louvière, Belgium and the wire drawing line situated at the company’s site at Tildonk, Belgium [2] .
2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are: · NLMK: carbon steel semi-finished and finished flat products, carbon steel semi-finished and finished long products and electrical steel products; · SIF: carbon steel semi-finished and finished flat products 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(c)i/(c)ii/(d) of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 [3] . 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. For the Commission (signed) Alexander ITALIANER 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.*Should read: "Duferco Industrial Investment S.A. or its designee". [2] Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 138, 07/05/2011, p.26. [3] OJ C 56, 5.3.2005, p. 32.