1.   

On 20 May 2020, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).

This notification concerns the following undertakings:

—	Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln AG (‘HGK’, Germany), controlled by Stadtwerke Köln GmbH (Germany),

—	the European inland shipping business of Imperial Mobility International B.V. & Co. KG (‘Imperial Group’, The Netherlands).

HGK acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation control of parts of the Imperial Group, namely the European inland shipping business and certain related businesses (‘Imperial Shipping Group’, The Netherlands, Germany and France).

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.

2.   

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—	for HGK: inland waterway transportation, transhipment/ stevedoring services at inland terminals, inland port infrastructure, rail transportation, rail infrastructure, freight forwarding and logistics services and short sea shipping in Germany with a focus on Cologne and the Rhine area,

—	for Imperial Shipping Group: inland navigation, transhipment/ stevedoring services, storage, transport logistics, ships clearance and trade in vehicles, servicing customers in Germany, Benelux and Northeast France.

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. The following reference should always be specified:

Case M.9853 – HGK/Imperial Shipping Group

Observations can be sent to the Commission by email, by fax, or by post. Please use the contact details below:

Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu

Fax +32 22964301

Postal address:

European Commission

Directorate-General for Competition

Merger Registry

1049 Bruxelles/Brussel

BELGIQUE/BELGIË