98/666/EC: Commission Decision of 6 May 1998 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market and the functioning of the EEA Agreement (Case No IV/M.970 - TKS/ITW Signode/Titan) (notified under document number C(1998) 1257) (Only the English text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance)

• Articles: 2

Article 1

The notified acquisition of joint control of Titan Umreifungstechnik GmbH by ITW Signode Holding GmbH and Thyssen Krupp Stahl GmbH is declared compatible with the common market and the functioning of the EEA Agreement.

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to:

1. Thyssen Krupp Stahl GmbH

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße 100

D-47166 Duisburg;

2. ITW Signode Holding GmbH

Magnusstraße 18

D-46535 Dinslaken.

Done at Brussels, 6 May 1998.

For the Commission

Karel VAN MIERT

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 395, 30.12.1989, p. 1; corrected version: OJ L 257, 21.9.1990, p. 13.

(2) OJ L 180, 9.7.1997, p. 1.

(3) OJ C 363, 25.11.1998.

(4) The creation of this jointly controlled company was the subject of proceedings under the Merger Regulation and Article 66 of the ECSC Treaty. See Commission Decision in Case IV/M.925 - Krupp Hoesch/Thyssen, (OJ C 285, 20.9.1997, p. 14) and Case IV/ECSC.1243 respectively.

(5) This version of the Decision has been edited to ensure that confidential information is not disclosed.

(6) The manufacture of strapping machines was outsourced to independent assemblers at the end of 1993.

(7) See Commission Decision in Case IV/M.897 - Stinnes/Haniel Reederei (OJ C 289, 24.9.1997, p 3, at paragraphs 7-17).

(8) Commission notice on the distinction between concentrative and cooperative joint ventures under Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 (OJ C 385, 31.12.1994, p. 1, at paragraph 16). See further Commission Decision in Case IV/M.823 - John Deere Capital Corp./Lombard North Central plc, (OJ C 359, 28.11.1996, p. 11, at paragraph 9).

(9) According to the parties, of the total estimated EEA turnover of ECU 808 million, some 15 % of the stretch film and 20 % of the shrink film is used in applications which are directly competitive with strapping.

(10) See Richtlinienarbeit VDI Nr. 3968, paragraph 3.2 'Kunststoff-Verpackungsbänder`. The expert studies presented by the parties do not deal with physical properties such as creep effect and stress relaxation over time.

(11) Titan Umreifungstechnik GmbH: Technische Spezifikationen - Kunststoffverpackungsband.

(12) See Commission Decision 93/9/EEC in Case IV/M.214 - Du Pont/ICI (OJ L 7, 13.1.1993, p. 13, paragraphs 21-22); Commission Decision 97/610/EC in Case IV/M.774 - Saint-Gobain/Wacker-Chemie/NOM (OJ L 247, 10.9.1997, p. 1, paragraph 83).

(13) See Commission notice on the definition of relevant market for the purposes of Community competition law (OJ C 372, 9.12.1997, p. 5, paragraph 36).

(14) The [. . .] tin-plate works in [. . .] only use small quantities of PET strapping for internal handling between processes. Such applications encompass one circumferential strap on coils of tin-plate and two vertical straps on palletised tin-plate bulks. External despatch packaging still requires steel strapping; the polyester strap is removed prior to this final packaging.

(15) See Richtlinienarbeit VDI Nr. 3968, table 'Bandeigenschaften im Vergleich (Allgemeine Übersicht)`.

(16) Main customers for single sealing heads for strapping machines are Itipack (Italy), AmCa Machinery Inc. (USA), Sorsa (Spain) and Samuel Strapping Systems (Canada).

(17) The significantly higher market shares of ITW Signode, of up to 70 %, in the Scandinavian countries, reflects the acquisition of Burseryds by ITW in 1995 and the continued transitional sales to the independent re-seller Cyklop, the former owner of Burseryds.

(18) For example, Draft European Standard CEN TC261/SC3/WG3 (January 1998) and corresponding norms 'Packaging - Specification for tensional steel strapping` and 'Packaging - Specification for non-metallic tensional strapping`.

(19) The parties have identified customs tariff classification numbers which, in their view, would cover the trade flows of the products under consideration: steel strapping - 72124098; PP strapping - 39202079; PET strapping - 39206290. These customs codes, however, do not represent strapping band only.

(20) See ITW's Annual Report 1996, p. 19.

(21) The manufacture of strapping machines was outsourced to independent assemblers at the end of 1993.

(22) According to the notifying parties, total strapping consumption in Western Europe amounted to ECU 593,2 million in 1997. Of this total, steel strapping sales accounted for ECU 290,3 million and plastic strapping sales accounted for ECU 302,9 million. On this basis the parties' market share would be [30-35 %].