Prior notification of a concentration

(Case M.10522 – HAPAG-LLOYD / EUROGATE / EUROGATE CONTAINER TERMINAL WILHELMSHAVEN)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2022/C 142/06)

On 22 March 2022, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).

This notification concerns the following undertakings:

—	Hapag-Lloyd AG (‘HL’, Germany),

—	Eurogate GmbH &Co KGaA, KG (‘Eurogate’, Germany),

—	Eurogate Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven GmbH & Co. KG (‘CTW’, Germany) and Rail Terminal Wilhelmshaven GmbH (‘RTW’, Germany), together ‘the Target’.

HL and Eurogate will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the whole of the Target.

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned:

—

HL is the parent company of a group of companies that are active in the maritime sector, offering global transport services for containerised cargo under the Hapag-Lloyd brand through a fleet of approximately 250 container ships. To a minor extent, HL is also active in the provision of container terminal services in Northern Europe and Africa. HL is listed on the Frankfurt and Hamburg stock exchanges,

—

Eurogate provides stevedoring (container terminal) services in Europe and Northern Africa. Through its affiliates, Eurogate also offers a range of container-related operations such as cargo-modal services, container-depot services, container servicing and container repair. EUROGATE also offers services related to intermodal transport and logistics management. Eurogate is jointly controlled by Eurokai GmbH & Co. KGaA and by BLG Logistics Group AG & Co. KG (BLG) (50 %). Eurokai is ultimately controlled by members of the Eckelmann family, while BLG is majority-owned by the City of Bremen,

—

CTW owns and operates the container terminal in the Port of Wilhelshaven, Germany. RTW operates the rail terminal in the Port of Wilhelmshaven, mainly serving the cargo loading and unloading needs of CTW. Pre-Transaction, the Target is jointly controlled by Eurogate and A. P. Møller - Maersk A/S (Denmark).

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.10522 – HAPAG-LLOYD / EUROGATE / EUROGATE CONTAINER TERMINAL WILHELMSHAVEN

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’).