Brussels, 06/03/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 5 March, the European Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of Respironics, located in the US, by Philips of the Netherlands.
Examination of the case by the Commission revealed that the proposed acquisition would result in some overlaps in the parties' activities in the markets for light boxes and soothers (dummies) and create vertical links between, on the one hand, Respironics' OEM capnography components and Philips' critical care monitors and, on the other hand, between Philips' critical care monitors and Respironics' ventilation equipment used in hospitals. The Commission's market investigation confirmed that the proposed acquisition would be unlikely to raise competition concerns as the combined market share of Philips and Respironics would not exceed 25% in any national market. Regarding the soothers markets where Philips is active, the proposed acquisition would only lead to a marginal increment to Philips' market share. There would be no overlap in the parties' activities if the soothers market was split into separate markets for the retail sale of "normal" soothers and the sale of "specialty" soothers (for example. soothers for preterm babies) to hospitals, as Philips does not sell "specialty" soothers. As regards the potential vertical relationships between the parties, the Commission illustrated that the proposed acquisition would not give rise to competition concerns, considering, in particular, the respective market position of the parties and the presence of a sufficient number of alternatives to the parties' products on the market. In other words, the Commission concluded that the operation would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or in any substantial part of it. (O.L.)