EUROPEAN COMMISSION DG Competition

Only the English text is available and authentic.

REGULATION (EC) No 139/2004 MERGER PROCEDURE

Article 6(1)(b) NON-OPPOSITION Date: 18/02/2020

In electronic form on the EUR-Lex website under document number 32020M9718

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 18.02.2020 C(2020) 1043 final

PUBLIC VERSION

To the notifying party

Dear Sir or Madam,

1.1. On 16 January 2020, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which Cobepa SA (‘Cobepa’, Belgium) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control over Gerflor Group (‘Gerflor’, France), consisting of the undertakings Topfloor SAS (currently the ultimate shareholding company), Midfloor, Gerflor SAS, Romus SAS, Gradus Ltd and SPM International SAS, by way of purchase of shares.

2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

- for Cobepa: investment in Europe and North America,

- for Gerflor: manufacture and supply of flooring solutions and wall finishes for professional and non-professional customers.

3.3. 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(b) of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004.

4.4. 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

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 (the‘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 L 1, 3.1.1994, p. 3 (the ‘EEA Agreement’).

3 Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 24, 24.1.2020, p. 33.

4 OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.

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.

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 and Article 57 of the EEA Agreement.

For the Commission

(Signed) Olivier GUERSENT Director-General

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