Commission Decision of 16/04/2013 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.6878 - ALIOR BANK / ERSTE GROUP BANK / POLBITA) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic) |EUROPEAN COMMISSION | Brussels, 16.04.2013 C(2013) 2276 SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE PUBLIC VERSION To the notifying party: | | Dear Madam(s) and/or Sir(s), Subject: Case No COMP/M.6878 – ALIOR BANK/ ERSTE GROUP BANK/ POLBITA Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 [1] 1. On 8 March 2013, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which the undertakings Alior Bank S.A.
("Alior", Poland), controlled by Carlo Tassara S. p A. (Italy) and Erste Group Bank AG ("Erste", Austria) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Polbita sp. z o.o. ("Polbita", Poland) by way of an acquisition of shares. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are: - for Alior: retailer of banking services - for Erste: provider of financial services - for Polbita: retailer of personal care products [2] . 2. 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) of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 [3] .
3. 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 77, 15.3.2013, p.19. [3] OJ C 56, 5.3.2005, p. 32.