24.11.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 434/9

1.

On 17 November 2016, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which the undertakings The Coca-Cola Company (USA) and Coca-Cola HBC AG (Switzerland) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Neptūno Vandenys UAB (Lithuania) by way of purchase of shares.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—   for The Coca-Cola Company: is a brand owner and licensor of various trademarks used to market and sell non-alcoholic beverages. It also produces soft drink concentrate and syrup that it supplies to bottling and canning operations, as well as fountain retailers,

—   for Coca-Cola HBC AG: is an authorised bottler of The Coca-Cola Company that produces, markets, and sells Coca-Cola Company-branded and other beverages in the EU and elsewhere in Eurasia and Africa,

—   for Neptūno Vandenys UAB: extracts, bottles, markets, and sells packaged and flavoured water in Lithuania under the Neptūnas brand.

3.

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.

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 M.8244 — The Coca-Cola Company/Coca-Cola HBC/Neptūno Vandenys, to the following address: