Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: EC approves acquisition of Montupet by Linamar, (Dec 11, 2015)

By Linda O’Brien, J.D., LL.M.

The European Commission (EC) has cleared under the European Union (EU) merger regulation the acquisition of Montupet S.A. of France by Linamar Corporation of Canada, the EC announced today.

Linamar is a diversified group, whose activities include the machining of precision metallic components, modules, and systems for the automotive industry. Montupet designs and produces automotive components through a casting process and specializes in aluminum cylinder heads for the automotive industry. The Commission determined that the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns because several alternative suppliers would remain active after the merger in both the market for machining of automotive components and the market for aluminum cylinder heads.

Cleavon acquisition. The EC also has cleared under the EU merger regulation the acquisition of joint control over Cleavon S.à.r.l of Luxembourg, the owner of two hotels in London, by AXA S.A. of France and Arbejdsmarkedets Tillægspension (ATP) of Denmark. The two hotels are located in Central London and are currently jointly controlled by Cleavon and Club Quarters Management LLC of the United States by virtue of hotel management agreements.

AXA is a global insurance group. ATP is a public pension fund that administers welfare and social security plans for Danish citizens. Club Quarters owns, manages, and operates hotels worldwide. The EC concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns because of its very limited impact on the market structure.

Companies: Montupet S.A.; Linamar Corporation; Cleavon S.à.r.l; AXA S.A.; Arbejdsmarkedets Tillægspension

News: AcquisitionsMergers Antitrust