29.12.2015   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 437/8

1.

On 18 December 2015, 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 Randstad Holding NV (‘Randstad’, the Netherlands) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation control of the whole of the undertaking Proffice AB (publ) (‘Proffice’, Sweden) by way of public bid announced on 30 November 2015.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—   Randstad: an international provider of temporary employment services, permanent placement services and other human resources related services,

—   Proffice: provider of temporary employment services, permanent placement services and other human resources related services in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway.

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. Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under the 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 this 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 M.7835 — Randstad/Proffice, to the following address: