The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of the French IMS International Metal Service by the Belgian JSA SA, the holding company of Jacquet Metals of France, both active in the distribution of steel products throughout the EU.
After examining the operation, the Commission concluded that the proposed transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.
The Commissions examination of the proposed transaction showed that the horizontal overlaps between the parties’ activities in the distribution of steel products are limited, given their largely complementary nature. The main focus of Jacquet Metals’ activities is on the distribution of stainless steel products by oxycutting centers (which cut the steel products into particular dimensions), whereas IMS is mainly active in the distribution of steel products by stockists (mainly distributing steel products with no further cutting).
The Commission focused its market investigation on the market for the distribution of stainless steel quarto plates by oxycutting centres and the distribution of long stainless steel products by stockists in a number of Member States where the transaction gave rise to horizontal overlaps. The Commission found that the transaction does not raise any competition concerns in these markets given the limited increments in market share resulting from the merger, the presence of a number of sizeable competitors active on each of the relevant markets and the low barriers to entry.
The transaction was notified to the Commission on 26 May 2010.
