Prior notification of a concentration

(Case M.10431 – Ali Group / Welbilt)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2022/C 185/10)

On 28 April 2022, the Commission received 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).

This notification concerns the following undertakings:

—	Ali Holding S.r.l. (‘Ali Group’, Italy),

—	Welbilt, Inc (‘Welbilt’, US).

Ali Group will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the whole of Welbilt.

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are the following:

—

Ali Group: the Italian corporation designs, manufactures, markets and services a broad range of commercial and institutional foodservice equipment, including ice-making machines and ovens, used in major commercial and public venues. It has manufacturing facilities as well as sales and service subsidiaries across the world, including Europe. Ali Group is one of the world’s largest groups in this industry and operates under 80 global brands such as Baron, Olis, Lainox, Menumaster, XpressChef and Scotsman,

—

Welbilt: the American corporation offering equipment capable of storing, cooking, holding, displaying, dispersing and serving food and beverage products. It designs, manufactures and supplies equipment used by commercial and institutional service operators. Welbilt has manufacturing facilities operating throughout the Americas (where the company is mostly active), Europe and Asia. It offers products under brands such as Merrychef, Convotherm and Manitowoc.

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.

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.10431 – ALI GROUP / WELBILT

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

(1) OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’).