21 June 2011: The Autorité de la concurrence opens an in-depth investigation into the acquisition of Tatex by the Geodis group
On 1st March 2011, the Geodis group, a subsidiary of the SNCF, filed a notification of its proposed acquisition of Tatex’s sole control with the Autorité de la concurrence.
Geodis and Tatex are both active in parcel shipping.
The proposed merger is the third notification filed with the Autorité de la concurrence concerning the acquisition by Geodis of an undertaking active in the parcel shipping sector since 20091.
The Autorité de la concurrence considers that the proposed operation raises serious concerns and requires opening of an in-depth examination (phase 2).
On the basis of a more extensive consultation with market’s participants, the Autorité will seek, during this examination, to determine if the operation is likely to harm competition, notably in the sector of business-to-business (B to B) express domestic shipping, in particular as concerns the shipping of heavy parcels (30 kilograms and over).
In principle, applicable rules call for this examination to be carried out within 65 working days of the launch of phase 2, with the possibility of lengthening this timeframe if necessary, for example in order to finalize commitments or to consider the occurrence of a new fact.
(1) See Autorité de la concurrence Decisions n° 10-DCC-26 of 26 March 2010 concerning the acquisition of Ciblex by Geodis and n° 09-DCC-40 of 4 September 2009 concerning the acquisition of Cool Jet’s commercial agencies by Geodis.
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