Commission Decision of 14/01/2013 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.6709 - ALPHA GROUP INVESTMENTS / JANOLAND PROPERTIES / NEU PROPERTY HOLDINGS / LIBERTY MALL) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic) |EUROPEAN COMMISSION | Brussels, 14/01/2013 PUBLIC VERSION C(2013) /132 SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE To the notifying parties: Dear Madam(s) and/or Sir(s), Subject: Case No COMP/M.6709 - ALPHA GROUP INVESTMENTS / JANOLAND PROPERTIES / NEU PROPERTY HOLDINGS / LIBERTY MALL Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 [1] 1.
On 28/11/2012, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which the undertakings Alpha Group Investments, a subsidiary of Alpha Bank Group (Greece); NEU Property Holdings, a subsidiary of Eurobank Group (Cyprus); and Janoland Properties, a subsidiary of Bank of Cyprus (Cyprus) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Liberty Mall (Bucharest, Romania) by way of public bid announced on 7 August 2012. 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are: - Alpha Bank Group is one of the largest groups of companies active in banking and financial services from Greece. - Bank of Cyprus Group provides, in addition to retail and commercial banking, activities like finance, factoring, investment banking, brokerage, fund management, private banking, life and general insurance. - Eurobank Group is active in retail, corporate and private banking, asset management, insurance, treasury, capital markets and other services. - Liberty Mall is a shopping mall in Bucharest, Romania. [2] 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 [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. [2] Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 377, 07/12/2012, p.17. [3] OJ C 56, 5.3.2005, p. 32.