14.7.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 226/18

1.

On 6 July 2017, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which the undertakings China National Bluestar Group Co. Ltd (‘Bluestar Group’, China), belonging to China National Chemical Corporation (‘ChemChina’, China), and Asahi Kasei Corporation (‘AKC’, Japan) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of a newly created company constituting a joint venture (the ‘JV’) by way of purchase of shares and contribution of assets.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—   for ChemChina: production of a wide range of chemical products, globally;

—   for AKC: production of fibres, chemical products, electronics materials, pharmaceutical products, medical devices, and housing, globally;

—   for the JV: two joint ventures active respectively in the research, development and production, and in the marketing and sale of a number of chemical products in China.

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. Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under the Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in this Notice.

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. Observations can be sent to the Commission by fax (+32 22964301), by email to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post, under reference M.8422 — ChemChina/AKC/JVs, to the following address: