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Case No COMP/M.7181 - BNP PARIBAS FORTIS/ BANK GOSPODARKI ZYWNOSCIOWEJ

Only the English text is available and authentic.

REGULATION (EC) No 139/2004 MERGER PROCEDURE

Article 6(1)(b) NON-OPPOSITION Date: 14/07/2014

In electronic form on the EUR-Lex website under document number 32014M7181

Office for Publications of the European Union L-2985 Luxembourg

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 14.7.2014 C(2014) 5109 final

PUBLIC VERSION

SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE

To the notifying party

Dear Madam(s) and/or Sir(s),

Subject: Case M.7181- BNP PARIBAS FORTIS/ BANK GOSPODARKI ZYWNOSCIOWEJ Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004

1.On 16 June 2014, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which the undertaking BNP Paribas Fortis S.A./N.V. ("BNPP Fortis", Belgium), ultimately controlled by BNP Paribas S.A. ("BNPP", France), acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control over the undertaking Bank Gospodarki •ywno•ciowej S.A ("BGZ", Poland) by way of purchase of shares.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

–– for BNP Paribas: active in the field of retail banking, corporate and investment, banking, financial services offered to corporate retail clients, public entities and financial institution, globally.

1OJ 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.

2Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 192, 21.06.2014, p. 6.

Commission européenne, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Bruxelles, BELGIQUE Europese Commissie, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Brussel, BELGIË

Tel: +32 229-91111. Fax: +32 229-64301. E-mail: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu.

–– for BGZ: a publicly traded Polish bank which offers a range of banking and financial services. It specializes in financing agriculture, food sector and regional infrastructure and is active only in Poland.

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 paragraphs 5(c) and 6 of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004.

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

3OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.