11.5.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 167/17

1.

On 29 April 2016, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 and following a referral pursuant to Article 4(5) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which Avril Protein Solutions SAS (‘Avril Holding’, France), controlled by Bpifrance Investissement SAS (‘Bpifrance’, France) and Avril Industrie SAS (‘Avril’, France) on one hand, and Biopolymer Technologies Ltd (‘BPT Israel’, Israel) on the other, acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the Evertree SAS (‘Evertree’, France) by way of purchase of shares in a newly created company constituting a joint venture.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—   for Avril: active in the field of human food, animal feed, biofuel and biochemical extraction, valorisation, marketing and sales of vegetable oils and proteins, in the EEA,

—   for Bpifrance: an investment fund offering funds and direct investments to industrial projects, including projects deemed to boost the development of the French economy in the frame of the French State project ‘Programme d'investissements d'avenir’, active mainly in France, and also in the EEA,

—   for BPT Israel: an R&D and IP start-up active in the development and testing of a broad range of intellectual property related to the use of protein in applications,

—   for Evertree: active in the field of research, development, marketing and manufacturing of products and solutions derived from vegetable proteins (oilseed meals) in applications such as additives in the resins used for the manufacture of wood composite boards, wood adhesives and any relevant application that could be further developed, in the EEA.

3.

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. Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in this Notice.

4.

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.8007 — Avril/Bpifrance/BPT Israel/Evertree, to the following address: