Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: EC clears acquisition of joint control over Ficosa by Ficosa Inversion and Panasonic, (Mar 18, 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 joint control over Ficosa International ("Ficosa") by Ficosa Inversion ("FI") of Spain and Panasonic of Japan. Panasonic is active worldwide in the development and engineering of electronic technologies and solutions, the EC announced today. The acquisition was examined under the simplified merger review procedure.

FI's activity is limited to being the holding company of the shares in Ficosa. Ficosa develops and manufactures systems and components for different types of vehicles. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, given the limited increment in the companies' combined market share, the presence of a significant number of competitors, and the countervailing buyer power of original equipment manufacturers.

Companies: Ficosa International; Ficosa Inversion; Panasonic Corporation

News: AcquisitionsMergers Antitrust