1.   

On 19 February 2020, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 and following a referral pursuant to Article 22 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004. (1)

This notification concerns the following undertakings:

—	Johnson & Johnson (‘J&J’, US),

—	Topaz Investment AS (‘Topaz’, Norway), a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceuticals International AG, ultimately owned by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Japan).

J&J acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation control of the whole of Topaz.

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares and assets.

The concentration has been referred to the Commission by the German Bundeskartellamt pursuant to Article 22 (3) of the Merger Regulation. The referral was subsequently joined by Spain, France, Austria, Finland and Norway.

2.   

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—	for J&J: a global group of companies whose activities are divided into three business sectors: consumer; pharmaceuticals; and medical devices,

—	for Topaz: an entity holding the majority of the rights, assets and obligations connected to the haemostatic patch product TachoSil (and its predecessor products).

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.

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. The following reference should always be specified:

M.9547 – Johnson & Johnson/Tachosil

Observations can be sent to the Commission by email, by fax, or by post. Please use the contact details below:

Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu

Fax +32 22964301

Postal address:

European Commission

Directorate-General for Competition

Merger Registry

1049 Bruxelles/Brussel

BELGIQUE/BELGIË