Brussels, 15/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Friday, the European Commission authorised three concentration operations in the banking, mining and telecommunications sectors.
The first covers the creation of a joint company providing Internet portal services - mainly mobile - between the companies Speedy Tomato AB, a subsidiary of the telecommunications group Telia AB, and Olivetti S.p.A. The Commission considers that the joint venture, called Speedy Tomato S.p.A., will not affect the competition situation in Italy as there are many players on the market.
Furthermore, the Commission authorised the takeover project of the Belgian bank, Artesia Banking Corp SA/NV, by Dexia SA/NV, another Belgian finance group. Artesia is essentially present in Belgium, the only country where the operation gives rise to major overlapping. Despite the latter, the Commission considers that the concentration will not create a dominant position of Dexia/Artesia, that will have to rival other banks and major insurance firms such as Fortis, KBC and BBL.
Finally, the Commission gave its go-ahead to the project of merger between BHP Ltd and Billiton Plc, two of the largest mining companies in the world. Although both companies are very active in the field of copper extraction, the Commission considers that the operation will not entail any special competition problems in Europe.