EUROPEAN COMMISSION - PRESS RELEASE
Mergers: Commission approves acquisition of
Swedish maritime transport terminal Älvsborg by
shipping conglomerate DFDS and terminal operator
C.RO Ports
Brussels, 02 April 2012 - The European Commission has cleared under the EU
Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Älvsborg, a roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro)
terminal in Gothenburg, Sweden, by the shipping conglomerate DFDS and terminal
operator C.RO Ports. The Commission's investigation confirmed that following the
transaction alternative terminals remain for competing shipping lines and DFDS and
CLdN, a shipping service provider belonging to the same owners as C.RO Ports,
will continue to compete with each other on the shipping routes operated from
Älvsborg.
The Commission examined the competitive effects of the proposed acquisition in
particular on the markets for short-sea Ro-Ro shipping services on the GothenburgUK and Gothenburg-Belgium/Northern France routes given that these routes are
currently operated by DFDS and CLdN.
The Commission's investigation found that alternative terminals exist in
Gothenburg, as demonstrated by the recent entry of a new shipping line North Sea
Ro-Ro which now operates a route from Gothenburg to the UK. Moreover, the
concession agreement concluded between the Gothenburg Port Authority and
Älvsborg requires Älvsborg to treat shipping lines wishing to use Älvsborg in a nondiscriminatory manner. Finally, Älvsborg itself still has spare capacity. The
Commission therefore considers it unlikely that the parties will be able to prevent
competing Ro-Ro shipping lines from providing services on the Gothenburg-UK and
Gothenburg-Sweden routes. Furthermore, the Commission concluded on the basis
of the market investigation that DFDS and CLdN would continue to compete on
routes originating from Älvsborg. Customers wishing to ship goods from Älvsborg
can therefore continue to benefit from actual and potential competition between the
parties.
The Commission therefore concluded that the transaction would not significantly
impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or a
substantial part of it.
The proposed transaction was notified to the Commission on 27 February 2012.
Background on companies and products
DFDS A/S (Denmark) is active in short sea/ferry transport in Northern Europe,
including roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) and container shipping, terminal services,
passenger transport services and trailer services, contract logistics and freight
forwarding.
IP/12/343
C.RO Ports S.A. (Luxembourg) also provides Ro-Ro terminal services in the United
Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands. It belongs to the same owners as CLdN
Lignes Régulières SA (Luxembourg), which operates a network of Ro-Ro shipping
services.
Älvsborg provides short-sea Ro-Ro terminal services at the Port of Gothenburg in
Sweden. This transaction is part of the privatisation process of the whole of the Port
of Gothenburg. As a result of the privatisation process, the Port has been divided
into three separate terminals, Älvsborg being one of them.
Merger control rules and procedures
The Commission has the duty to assess mergers and acquisitions involving
companies with a turnover above certain thresholds (see Article 1 of the Merger
Regulation) and to prevent concentrations that would significantly impede effective
competition in the EEA or any substantial part of it.
The vast majority of mergers do not pose competition problems and are cleared
after a routine review. From the moment a transaction is notified, the Commission
generally has a total of 25 working days to decide whether to grant approval (Phase
I) or to start an in-depth investigation (Phase II).
http://ec.europa.eu/competition/elojade/isef/case_details.cfm?proc_code=2_M_6305
Contacts :
Antoine Colombani (+32 2 297 45 13)
Marisa Gonzalez Iglesias (+32 2 295 19 25)
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