Background
Creation of a joint venture between Lafarge and Readymix. Lafarge is active in the production and sale of building materials, in particular cement and ready-mixed concrete. Readymix is the German subsidiary of the British Readymix group active in the production and sale of building materials such as cement, ready-mixed concrete and asphalt.
Assessment
The operation affects the Readymix concrete market, which is sold and delivered in a semi-wet form. As regards the geographical dimension of the market, the Commission has in previous cases found that it is normally local, due to the fact that ready-mixed concrete perishes when being transported for more than about one hour.
In view of the market position of the parties, and, in particular, of the fact that there is no overlap between the activities of the parent companies in the JV’s market, the concentration does not create or strengthen a dominant position within the Common Market.
Pursuant to Article 2(4) of the Merger Regulation, the Commission authorised the operation under the criteria in Article 81 EC. Since only one part of the JV is presently active on its own on the possible relevant market for ready-mixed concrete (Western part of Germany), it appears that the operation did not have as its object or effect the co-ordination of the competitive behaviour of the parents. The same conclusion was reached by the Commission as regards the upstream cement market, where both remain active because of the different geographic dimensions of the JV ready-mixed concrete market and of the market for cement. (Case n° COMP/JV.29, Decision of 20 December 1999).
