Brussels, 03/11/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 31 October, the European Commission approved the proposed acquisition of Italian vending machine manufacturer N&W Global Vending by the international investment companies Barclays Private Equity S.p.A and Investcorp Investment Holdings Ltd. Barclays and Investcorp are international investment companies and financial service providers. Barclays is an Italian based company, while Investcorp is based in the United Kingdom. N&W Global Vending is a leading manufacturer of food and beverage vending machines.
There are no direct overlaps in the activities of the three companies, but one of the acquirers, Investcorp, owns a company, Ceme, which produces solenoid pumps and valves which can be used as an input in beverage machines. Although Ceme holds a strong position in the market for solenoid pumps, the Commission's market investigation showed that, after the transaction, customers would still have a choice between several alternative suppliers like Invensys, Olab, Ode, Gotec and Fluidotech. The Commission also took into account that solenoid pumps are low-cost inputs compared to the final price of a vending machine. (L.C./transl.rt)