23.12.2009   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 315/8


Prior notification of a concentration

(Case COMP/M.5685 — Louis Dreyfus/Fin Lov/SBM/Mangas Gaming)

Candidate case for simplified procedure

(Text with EEA relevance)

2009/C 315/04

1.

On 14 December 2009, the Commission received a 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) by which the undertakings Louis Dreyfus S.A.S. (‘LD’, France), Financières Lov S.A.S. (‘Fin Lov’, France) and Société Anonyme des Bains de Mer et du Cercle des Etrangers à Monaco (‘SBM’, Monaco) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Regulation joint control of the undertaking Mangas Gaming S.A.S. (‘MG’, France) by way of purchase of shares.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

for LD: trading in cereals and commodities (rice, sugar, ethanol, coffee, cotton, citrus fruit, oilseeds, etc.), energy trading and property,

Fin Lov is a holding company within the Lov Group: Lov Group is mainly active in audiovisual production, hotels, online gaming (via Mangas Gaming), power and online music promotion,

for SBM: hotels, restaurants, casinos and property; it is active in online gaming via its stake in MG,

for MG: online gaming.

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. 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.

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 (+32 22964301 or 22967244) or by post, under reference number COMP/M.5685 — Louis Dreyfus/Fin Lov/SBM/Mangas Gaming, to the following address:

European Commission

Directorate-General for Competition

Merger Registry

1049 Bruxelles/Brussel

BELGIQUE/BELGIË


(1)  OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1.

(2)  OJ C 56, 5.3.2005, p. 32.