12.5.2006   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 112/11

Prior notification of a concentration

(Case COMP/M.4048 — Sonae Indústria/Tarkett/JV)

(2006/C 112/08)

(Text with EEA relevance)

1.

On 2 May 2006, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which the undertaking Sonae Indústria — SGPS, SA (‘Sonae Indústria’, Portugal) belonging to the group Sonae and Tarkett AG (‘Tarkett’, Germany) controlled by Tarkett SA acquire joint control within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Council Regulation by way of purchase of shares in a newly created company constituting a joint venture (‘JV’, Luxembourg).

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—

for Sonae Indústria: production of wood-based products, such as fibre boards;

—

for Tarkett: production and distribution of different floor coverings, such as resilient flooring (PVC), wood-based flooring and laminate flooring;

—

JV: manufacturing and selling of laminate flooring.

3.

On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 139/2004. 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. Observations can be sent to the Commission by fax (No (32-2) 296 43 01 or 296 72 44) or by post, under reference number COMP/M.4048 — Sonae Indústria/Tarkett/JV to the following address:

European Commission

Competition DG

Merger Registry

J-70

B-1049 Brussels

(1)  OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1.