1.10.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 363/24

1.

On 26 September 2016, the Commission received 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 undertaking AkzoNobel NV (‘AkzoNobel’, the Netherlands) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation control of the industrial coatings business of BASF SE (‘BASF IC’, Germany) by way of purchase of shares and assets. The same concentration was already notified to the Commission on 4 July 2016, but the notification was subsequently withdrawn on 29 July 2016.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—   for AkzoNobel: active in the production and marketing of a wide range of paints, performance coatings and specialty chemicals, active globally.

—   for BASF IC: manufacturer and distributor of a broad range of industrial coatings including coil coatings, furniture foil and panel coatings, wind coatings, protective coatings and commercial transport coatings, active globally.

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.8004 — AkzoNobel/BASF Industrial Coatings Business, to the following address: