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European Union
IP/05/788
Brussels, 24th June 2005
Mergers: Commission approves Strabag take over of Walter Bau; refers Hamburg
asphalt market review to Federal Cartel Office
Acting under the EU Merger Regulation, the European Commission has
given the Austrian firm Bauholding Strabag SE (Strabag) the go-ahead
to take over parts of the bankrupt German construction company Walter
Bau-AG (Walter Bau). The Commission concluded that the operation will
not significantly impede effective competition in the EEA or any
substantial part of it, as the parties' combined market shares on the
relevant markets in Germany will be limited and there will be only a
slight increase in the market share in Austria. At the same time, the
Commission has referred the assessment of the impact of the operation
on the Hamburg regional asphalt market to Germany's Federal Cartel
Office.
Strabag is a construction company that operates worldwide in all areas
of the industry, especially in building and civil engineering. Walter
Bau provides services in connection with turnkey construction, civil
engineering and road building. Final bankruptcy proceedings with
regard to Walter Bau began on 1 April 2005.
Strabag is to take over Walter Bau's existing building and civil
engineering projects, which were transferred to the recently founded
`Dywidag Schlüsselfertig- und Ingenieurbau GmbH'. Strabag is also
acquiring control of the civil engineering company `Walter Heilit
Verkehrswegebau GmbH', `Dywidag International GmbH', `Dyckerhoff &
Widmann Ges.mbH', which operates in Austria, and `RIB GmbH', which is
continuing some bridge-construction projects managed by the Walter Bau
subsidiary `Niklas GmbH'.
Although Strabag and Walter Bau are among the largest construction
companies in Germany, the operation does not raise any competition
concerns. Strabag is taking over only a small number of Walter Bau's
construction contracts. The parties' combined shares of the
construction, road-building and other civil engineering markets will
remain well under 20%. While Strabag is the largest construction
company in Austria, Walter Bau's companies have only small-scale
operations there and, by taking them over, Strabag will increase its
market share only slightly.
Referral request
On 30th May 2005 Germany's Federal Cartel Office pointed out that the
planned merger would affect competition on the Hamburg regional market
for asphalt, which has all the features of a distinct market and does
not constitute a substantial part of the Single Market. In the Hamburg
region Walter Heilit has a shareholding in an asphalt mixing plant.
NMW, which also has a shareholding in the plant, controls four of the
other eight plants in the region. Strabag is another competitor, which
means that there would be a risk that antitrust rules could be
breached and a dominant market position created. The Federal Cartel
Office therefore applied for a referral of the case inasmuch as this
market is affected. As the case satisfies the conditions for a
referral, the Commission has agreed to do so. The Federal Cartel
Office will therefore examine whether the merger complies with
national competition law.
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