Mergers: Commission approves acquisition of US-based distributor Brightpoint by US rival Ingram Micro

Brussels, 16-10-2012 — /europawire.eu/ — The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of US-based distributor of mobility/telecommunications products Brightpoint by Ingram Micro of the US, a distributor of electronic products. The Commission concluded that the concentration would not raise competition concerns, because the merged entity will continue to face sufficient competitive constraints, including on narrow market segments.

The proposed acquisition would lead to an overlap between the parties’ activities in the markets for the wholesale distribution of consumer electronics products, mobility/telecommunications products, and IT products. In particular, the proposed acquisition would lead to affected markets in the wholesale distribution of mobility/telecommunications products and IT products (laptops and tablets) in a number of EU Member States.

However, the proposed acquisition would not raise competition concerns in any of the markets examined as the increment in market shares in the affected markets is limited and the merged entity will continue to face competition from a number of competitors.

The transaction was notified to the Commission on 7 September 2012.

Companies and products

Ingram Micro, is a US-based company mainly active in the US, Europe, and Asia, as wholesale distributor of electronic products, mainly IT products (PCs, servers, networking equipment, and software) and to a lesser extent mobility/telecommunications and consumer electronics products.

Brightpoint, a US-based company, is a wholesale distributor of mobility/telecommunications products (mainly feature phones and smartphones).

Merger control rules and procedures

The Commission has the duty to assess mergers and acquisitions involving companies with a turnover above certain thresholds (see Article 1 of the Merger Regulation) and to prevent concentrations that would significantly impede effective competition in the EEA or any substantial part of it.

The vast majority of notified mergers do not pose competition problems and are cleared after a routine review. From the moment a transaction is notified, the Commission generally has a total of 25 working days to decide whether to grant approval (Phase I) or to start an in-depth investigation (Phase II).

More information on the case is available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/competition/elojade/isef/case_details.cfm?proc_code=2_M_6685

Contacts :

Antoine Colombani (+32 2 297 45 13)

Marisa Gonzalez Iglesias (+32 2 295 19 25)

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