[autom.vertaling] De Commissie verwijst onderzoek van BAT/ETI tabaksfusie naar de Italiaanse mededingingsautoriteit door (en)
The European Commission has decided to refer to the Italian competition authorities the examination of the proposed acquisition of Italian tobacco company Ente Tabacchi Italiani by British American Tobacco. The Italian competition authority had asked the Commission to refer the review of the case to Italy. The Commission has now concluded that since the transaction has no effect outside Italy, Rome is better placed to evaluate and deal with the competition problems.
BAT (British American Tobacco) is an international tobacco company active in the manufacturing, marketing and sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products globally. ETI (Ente Tabacchi Italiani) is a public stock company active in the manufacturing, marketing and sales of tobacco products in Italy. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Etìnera S.p.A. ("Etìnera"), distributes these products in Italy.
This transaction is the final step in the privatisation of ETI by the Italian Government(1). On 16 July 2003, BAT, along with two commercial partners, Axiter S.p.A. and FB Group S.r.l., was selected as the preferred bidder for ETI.
ETI is Italy's second-largest tobacco company in Italy after Philip Morris. After the merger, BAT would be the leader for the low-price segment of the market.
The proposed acquisition was notified to the Commission on 15 September 2003 because it meets the turnover thresholds set in the European Union's Merger Regulation which trigger Commission jurisdiction.
On 13 October, the Italian competition authority (the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza et del Mercato (AGCM) asked the Commission to refer the examination of the case to Italy in application of Article 9 of the Merger Regulation.
The Commission has concluded that the request is well-founded in that it coincides with the Commission's own preliminary findings that the increased level of industry concentration and the elimination of a vigorous player from the market may create or reinforce a dominant position in the tobacco markets in Italy.
In referring the case to Italy, the Commission thus recognises the inherently Italian character of the transaction and entrusts the national authorities to deal with the specificities of the case.
(1) ETI was created in 1999, as a specific public entity ("ente pubblico") to run the tobacco assets of the Italian monopoly AAMS (Azienda Autonoma Monopoli di Stato); in 2000, it was then transformed in a private company (SpA).