Prior notification of a concentration

(Case M.10948 – STORA ENSO / DE JONG PAPIER HOLDING / DJV HOLDING)

Candidate case for simplified procedure

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2022/C 437/05)

On 3 November 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:

—	Stora Enso AB (‘Stora Enso’), controlled by Stora Enso Oyj (both of Sweden),

—	De Jong Papier Holding B.V. (‘De Jong’) (the Netherlands),

—	DJV Holding B.V. (‘DJV’) (the Netherlands).

Stora Enso will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation control of the whole of De Jong and DJV.

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are the following:

—

Stora Enso develops, produces and offers wood and biomass-based solutions and services for a range of industries and applications globally and is, amongst other things, active in the production of both corrugated case materials and corrugated packaging, with several production plants throughout the EEA,

—

De Jong and DJV are mainly active in the production and supply of corrugated packaging in the Benelux, Germany and the UK, where they have production facilities. They have recently also started the production of recycled corrugated case materials, which they require for their downstream production of corrugated packaging.

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 the Notice.

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.10948 – STORA ENSO / DE JONG PAPIER HOLDING / DJV HOLDING

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’).

(2) OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.