5.12.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 436/10

1.

On 28 November 2014, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which GlaxoSmithKline plc. (‘GSK’, United Kingdom) acquires the global human vaccines business of Novartis AG (‘Novartis’, Switzerland), with the exception of Novartis' human flu vaccine business, by way of purchase of assets. GSK and Novartis are also creating a new venture combining their non-prescription (over the counter — ‘OTC’ or ‘consumer health’) activities, under the sole control of GSK. The new venture will commercialise OTC products for various indications, including for instance cold and flu treatment, cold sore treatment and smoking cessation.

2.

The proposed concentration forms part of a three-part inter-conditional transaction whereby Novartis acquires a portfolio of oncology products from GSK. This part of the overall transaction has been notified on 28 November 2014 as case M.7275.

3.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

4.

On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved.

5.

The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.

Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. Observations can be sent to the Commission by fax (+32 22964301), by email to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post, under reference number M.7276 — GlaxoSmithKline/Novartis vaccines business (excl. influenza)/Novartis consumer health business, to the following address: