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REGULATION (EEC) No 4064/89 MERGER PROCEDURE

Article 6(1)(b) NON-OPPOSITION Date: 18/03/2002

Also available in the CELEX database Document No 302M2710

Office for Official Publications of the European Communities L-2985 Luxembourg

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 18/03/2002

SG (2002) D/228945

PUBLIC VERSION

MERGER PROCEDURE ARTICLE 6(1)(b) DECISION

SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE

To the notifying parties

Dear Madams and Sirs,

Subject: Case No. COMP/M.2710 - 3i/CapMan/Pretax Notification of 18.02.2002 pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 14064/89 Publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities No. C 49, 22.02.2002, page 15.

1.On 18.02.2002, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 4064/89 by which the undertakings 3i Group plc (ì3iî), UK, and CapMan Capital Management Oy (ìCapManî), Finland, acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Council Regulation joint control of the undertaking Pretax Oy (ìPretaxî), Finland, by way of purchase of shares.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are :

-- for 3i : venture capital company listed on the London Stock Exchange,

-- for CapMan : venture capital company listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange,

1OJ L 395, 30.12.1989 p. 1; corrected version OJ L 257 of 21.9.1990, p. 13, as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1310/97, OJ L 180, 9.7.1997, p. 1, corrigendum in OJ L 40, 13.2.1998, p. 17.

Commission europÈenne, B-1049 Bruxelles / Europese Commissie, B-1049 Brussel - Belgium. Telephone: (32-2) 299 11 11.

-- for Pretax : financial administration services in Finland.

3.After examination of the notification, the Commission has concluded that the notified operation falls within the scope of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 4064/89 and of paragraph 4, subparagraph a, of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89.

4.For the reasons set out in the Notice on a simplified procedure, the Commission has decided not to oppose the notified operation and to declare it compatible with the common market and with the EEA Agreement. This decision is adopted in application of Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 4064/89.

For the Commission,

Mario Monti Member of the Commission (signed)

2OJ C 217, 29.07.2000, p. 32.

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