5.6.2012   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 158/27

Prior notification of a concentration

(Case COMP/M.6571 — Vitol/Grindrod/Cockett Group)

Candidate case for simplified procedure

(Text with EEA relevance)

2012/C 158/09

1.

On 29 May 2012, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which Vitol B.V. (‘Vitol’, the Netherlands) and Grindrod Limited (‘Grindrod’, South Africa) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Cockett Marine Oil Pte Ltd (Singapore) and Cockett Marine Oil South Africa (Pty) Ltd (South Africa) (together ‘the Cockett Group’) by way of a purchase of shares in a newly created company constituting a joint venture.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—

for Vitol: active in the physical trading of energy commodities relating in particular to the oil and gas sector,

—

for Grindrod: active in the movement of cargo by road, rail, sea and air through integrated logistics services utilising specialised assets and infrastructure,

—

for the Cockett Group: active in reselling marine fuels, also known as bunker trading.

3.

On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the EC 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 the EC Merger Regulation (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), by email to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post, under reference number COMP/M.6571 — Vitol/Grindrod/Cockett Group, to the following address:

European Commission

Directorate-General for Competition

Merger Registry

J-70

1049 Bruxelles/Brussel

BELGIQUE/BELGIË

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

(2)  OJ C 56, 5.3.2005, p. 32 (‘Notice on a simplified procedure’).