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REGULATION (EC) No 139/2004 MERGER PROCEDURE

Article 6(1)(b) NON-OPPOSITION Date: 22/10/2012

In electronic form on the EUR-Lex website under document number 32012M6733

Office for Publications of the European Union L-2985 Luxembourg

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 22.10.2012 C (2012)7575

PUBLIC VERSION

SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE

To the notifying party:

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

1.On 24.09.2012 the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which Ageas (UK) Limited ("Ageas UK", United Kingdom), a wholly owned subsidiary of Ageas SA/NV ("Ageas", Belgium) acquires, within the meaning of Article 3 (1) (b) of the Merger Regulation, sole control of the whole of Groupama Insurance Company Limited ("Groupama UK", United Kingdom) by way of purchase of shares.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

--for Ageas: provider of insurance services to personal, business and institutional customers and delivers packages of financial products and services through its own channel, and via intermediaries and other partners;

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.

Commission européenne, 1049 Bruxelles, BELGIQUE / Europese Commissie, 1049 Brussel - BELGIË. Telephone: (32-2) 299 11 11.

-for Ageas UK: non-life insurance;

-for Groupama UK: non-life insurer with a diversified book of business that provides products predominantly in the UK and, to a lesser extent, in Ireland.

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

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 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

2Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 297, 03.10.2012, p 4.

3OJ C 56, 5.3.2005, p. 32.

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