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: 06/12/2019

In electronic form on the EUR-Lex website under document number 32019M9621

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 06.12.2019 C(2019) 8899 final

PUBLIC VERSION

To the notifying parties

Dear Sir or Madam,

1.1. On 14 November 2019, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which the undertakings SUEZ Groupe SAS (“Suez”, France), ITOCHU Corporation (“Itochu”, Japan) and Saudi Fransi Capital (“SFC”, Saudi Arabia), owned by Banque Saudi Fransi (Saudi Arabia) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control over the whole of the undertaking Environment Development Company Limited (“EDCO”, Saudi Arabia) by way of purchase of shares.

2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

- SUEZ is a company active in the provision of water management, recycling and wastewater recovery and urban development services,

- ITOCHU is a Japanese trading and investment company with a wide range of experience investing in infrastructure projects,

- SFC is a full-service Saudi-based investment services provider offering investment banking, asset management, debt and equity research, institutional sales and trading, and local/international brokerage services,

- EDCO is an independent company providing hazardous waste management services in the Jubail area in Saudi Arabia.

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.

2OJ L 1, 3.1.1994, p. 3 (the ‘EEA Agreement’).

3Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 395, 22.11.2019, p. 9 and C 401, 27.11.2019, p. 13

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.

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(a) 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 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) Cecilio MADERO VILLAREJO Acting Director-General

4OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.

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