Commission Decision of 29/10/2013 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.7048 - VODAFONE GROUP / VODAFONE OMNITEL) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic) |EUROPEAN COMMISSION | Brussels, 29/10/2013 C(2013)7363 PUBLIC VERSION SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE To the notifying party/ies: | | Dear Madam(s) and/or Sir(s), Subject: Case No COMP/M.7048 - VODAFONE GROUP/ VODAFONE OMNITEL Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 [1] 1. On 30 September 2013, the European Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 by which the undertaking Vodafone Group Plc.
("Vodafone", the United Kingdom) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the whole of the undertaking Vodafone Omnitel N.V. ("Vodafone Italy", The Netherlands), by way of purchase of shares. 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are: - for Vodafone: holding company of a global group of companies that is involved in the operation of mobile telecommunications networks and the provision of related telecommunications services, including voice telephony, messaging, data and content services, radio paging and value added network services. - for Vodafone Omnitel : joint venture between Vodafone and Verizon Business International Holdings B.V., active in the provision of mobile telephony services (both wholesale and retail) and fixed line networks and telephony services (both wholesale and retail, including retail Internet services) in Italy.
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(d) of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 [2] . 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] OJ C 56, 5.3.2005, p. 32.