Press Release: Mergers: Commission welcomes Court of First Instance judgment confirming its suspension decision during Omya/Huber merger investigation

The European Commission welcomes the judgment by the Court of First Instance (case T-145/06) confirming the Commission's decision to suspend, under Article 11(3) of the EU Merger Regulation, its investigation of the merger case between Omya and Huber. The contested decision was adopted by the Commission in order to obtain information necessary for its assessment of the proposed acquisition of the worldwide precipitated calcium carbonate business of J.M. Huber by Omya. The acquisition was subsequently approved, subject to conditions, by the Commission on 19 July 2006. The Court of First Instance dismissed all claims made by the applicant and held that the Commission was justified in adopting the suspension decision. The decision was important for the Commission's effective assessment of mergers and takeovers because it confirmed that the Commission was fully entitled to insist on obtaining all information necessary to make an informed decision on whether a given concentration is liable to adversely affect competition within the Single Market and was entitled to suspend an investigation until it receives the necessary information.