Mergers: Commission approves proposed acquisition of Transfesa by Deutsche Bahn
- Germany
- 03/19/2008
The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Transportes Ferroviarios Especiales (Transfesa) of Spain by Deutsche Bahn (DB) of Germany. 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.
DB is a state-owned German-based railway company providing rail passenger transport and rail freight transport in Germany, The Netherlands and Denmark, through its subsidiary Railion and in the UK and France through its recent acquisition of EWS. DB also provides freight forwarding by all modes of transport, logistics and ancillary services worldwide through its subsidiary Schenker. DB is active in finished vehicle logistics services and car components logistics via its subsidiaries ATG and SAR respectively.
Transfesa delivers freight forwarding and logistics services, mainly within, from and to Spain. Transfesa is primarily active in rail and road freight forwarding and logistics services for vehicle parts and components and finished vehicles, through its subsidiary Semat. Transfesa also operates two rail axle changing stations between France and Spain.
DB’s and Transfesa’s activities mainly overlap with regard to freight forwarding services provided to car manufacturers. These overlaps would only be significant for rail-based finished vehicles and car components logistics. In these areas the merged entity might have a competitive advantage due to the ownership of certain transport equipment which would be particularly suitable for the transport of cars and component parts.
However, the Commission’s investigation found that the market is characterised by the existence of current and potential competitors, by competitive constraints from road and sea and by a limited number of large customers with very specific needs and considerable know-how in logistics. The Commission therefore concluded that the proposed transaction would not lead to competition concerns in the finished vehicles logistics market. It also concluded that competition concerns in the car components logistics sector would be similarly outweighed by competitive constraints from other competitors, general cargo logistics and road transport.
