The highlight of the previous month is probably a gun-jumping investigation launched by the Bosnian NCA.
Elsewhere, all NCAs in the region continue with their merger control activities, stepping up following the coronavirus break.
Serbia
Merger control
Regular merger control deadlines apply
While Serbia is facing a surge in COVID-19 cases, there are no indications that the government will introduce another state of emergency. Accordingly, the regular merger control deadlines continue to apply.
Merger control
Six new merger clearances
During the previous month, the Serbian NCA cleared six new transactions - all unconditionally and following a Phase I.
State aid
Support for a broadband network in rural Serbia cleared
Serbia's state aid watchdog - the Commission for State Aid Control - has cleared EUR 18 million of state support for the construction of a broadband network in rural parts of Serbia. The grantor of the aid is the Serbian ministry in charge of trade, tourism, and telecoms and the grantee will be selected through an open competition.
Montenegro
Merger control
Six new clearances
During the previous month, the Montenegrin NCA issued six new merger decisions - all were unconditional Phase I clearances.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Merger control
Bosnian NCA investigates gun jumping
The Bosnian NCA has started a gun-jumping investigation, probing whether a bid for the takeover of Centrotrans-Eurolines d.d. Sarajevo amounted to a concentration which was not notified to the NCA. Centrotrans-Eurolines is a leading inland and international bus transporter in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which also operates several bus stations in the country.
Merger control
Four new merger clearances
The Bosnian NCA has cleared for new transactions:
- Hyundai, Kia - Ionity Holding GmbH & Co. KG (the market for installation, operation, and maintenance of publicly available infrastructure for charging battery electric vehicles);
- Fortenova Grupa d.d. Zagreb - Poslovni sistem Mercator d.d. Ljubljana (the market for retail of food and consumer goods);
- MK Group d.o.o. Beograd - Victoria Group a.d. Beograd (the market for wholesale of edible vegetable oil);
- Prointer ITSS d.o.o. Banja Luka - Kaldera company d.o.o. Laktaši (the market for manufacturing of devices for distribution and control of electricity).
North Macedonia
Merger control
Merger control deadlines back to normal
The state of emergency in North Macedonia, introduced mid-March, has expired. Accordingly, the merger control deadlines are now back to normal.
Merger control
Nine new merger notifications
Following the lifting of the state of emergency, the North Macedonian NCA has published as many as nine new merger notifications:
- ALFI PE d.o.o. (Slovenia) - BABY CENTER trgovina d.o.o. (Slovenia), APOLLO proizvodnja, trgovina in druge storitve d.o.o. (Slovenia), PIKAPOKA vse za otroka d.o.o. (Slovenia);
- Telemach d.o.o. (Slovenia) - Ansat montaža in vzdrževanje elektronskih naprav d.o.o. (Slovenia);
- Petrol d.d. (Slovenia) - E3, ENERGETIKA, EKOLOGIJA, EKONOMIJA DOO (Slovenia)
- A1 Slovenija, telekomunikacijske storitve d.d. (Slovenia) - Studio Proteus, produkcija audio video kaset, d.o.o. (Slovenia);
- Asahi Kasei, Corp. (Japan) - Adient plc (USA);
- OMV Refining & Marketing GmbH (Austria) - Borealis AG (Austria);
- Zenith Electronics LLC (USA), Luxoft USA Inc. (USA) (JV);
- United Group B.V. (Netherlands) - Hellenic Telecommunication and Telematic Applications S.A. (Greece);
- SALUS d.d. (Slovenia) - Benifarm d.o.o. (Serbia).
General
Merger Control in Serbia: 2019
An overview of merger control in Serbia in the previous year - a surprising number of transactions with no connection to Serbia and other statistics you need to know.
Originally sent by e-mail. Original issue (mailchi.mp) · gajin.rs