Agefi Luxembourg - octobre 2024

Octobre 2024 37 AGEFI Luxembourg Droit / Emploi 4 i, société luxembour- geoise spécialisée en solutions de traçabilité rejoint le groupe belgo-néer- landaisDatAction, acteur clé de l’automatisation logis- tique. Ce rapprochement, orchestré parAKCEAN, ca- binet de conseilM&Abasé auLuxembourg, concrétise l’ambition commune des deux entreprises de créer le leader des solutions de tra- çabilité et d’identification automatique sur lemarché duBenelux. 4i : Leader luxembourgeois des solutions de traçabilité Basée à Steinfort, 4i est le leader luxembourgeoisdes solutionsde traçabilité et d’identification au- tomatique, reposant sur les tech- nologiesde codes-barres etRFID, avec une présence étendue en France et en Belgique. L’entre- priseproposeuneoffrecomplète, incluant ledéveloppement de lo- giciels de traçabilité ainsi que la commercialisation, l’installation et la maintenance de terminaux portables (lecteurs de code- barres) et d’imprimantes. Ses so- lutions répondent principale- ment auxbesoins des secteurs de la santé, du transport, de l’indus- trie, de la grande distribution et des services postaux. DatAction :Acteurmajeur de la digitalisation logistique aux Pays-Bas et enBelgique Le groupe DatAction, basé aux Pays-BasetenBelgique,estunac- teur de premier plan dans la nu- mérisation et l’automatisationdes flux logistiques. DatAction développe des solu- tions intégrantmatériel et logiciel, principalement dédiées à l’auto- matisation des entrepôts et des processus logistiques, avec une expertise reconnue auprès des grands compte. Le groupe accompagne ses clientsdansl’optimisationdeleur chaînelogistique,leurpermettant degagner enefficacité et encom- pétitivité. Un rapprochement stratégique pour renforcer l’innovation et la croissance FrançoisDolisy,ManagingDirec- torde4i,déclare: “Cetteintégration est une formidable opportunité pour 4i. En rejoignant DatAction, nous renforçonsnotrecapacitéd’innovation et notre valeur ajoutée pour nos clients.Lessynergiesentrenoséquipes sontévidentes,notammentenmatière decompétencestechniques.Cerappro- chement nous permet de poursuivre notre démarche de qualité tout en ou- vrant de nouvelles perspectives pour nos collaborateurs.” Jan Doclo, CEO de DatAction, ajoute:“ Cerapprochementconstitue uneétapestratégiquenouspermettant de devenir le leader des solutions de traçabilité et d’identification automa- tiqueauBenelux.L’expertisede4isur le marché luxembourgeois et dans le secteur de la santé complète parfaite- ment nos activités principales. Cela nous permettra de proposer des solu- tions encore plus globales et adaptées aux besoins spécifiques de nos clients, tout en accélérant notre croissance. ” AKCEAN : Cabinet de conseil M&A luxembourgeois Cabinet de conseil indépendant spécialisé en fusions-acquisitions, AKCEAN a accompagné les ac- tionnaires de 4i tout au long de cette opération. Thibault Vittet, Managing Partner d’AKCEAN, déclare : “Félicitations à 4i et Da- tAction pour ce rapprochement. Nous sommes ravis d’avoir iden- tifiélesbonspartenairesetconcré- tisé une opération créatrice de valeur pour toutes les parties.” Créer le leader des solutions de traçabilité et d’identification automatique du Benelux By Fernando LORENDEAU, Counsel & Nabila RAMMAL,SeniorAssociate,EYLawLuxembourg T hewave of legislativemoderniza- tionwhichhas beenunfolding in theGrandDuchy of Luxembourg cannot escape notice.Amongst others, competition lawhas not been spared fromthe sweepof reforms. Having alreadymaterialized into a number of amendments to the existing competition le- gislation, the reforms are set to culminate in the enact- ment of a nationalmerger control regime, a significant development that promises to fortify the oversight ofmergers and acquisitions inLuxem- bourg. This article explores Luxem- bourg’s evolving approach tomerger control, highlighting its shift towards amore robust regulatory framework.Wewill delve into the current competition lawlandscape, the key features of the upcomingmerger control re- gime and the practical implications of these regulatory changes. Embeddedinthewiderbodyofcompetitionlaw,the primaryobjectiveofmerger control is toassessonan ex-ante basiswhether a proposedmerger or acquisi- tion could harmmarket competition. Luxembourg is the last Member State of the Euro- peanUnion (EU)without an ex-ante nationalmerger control regime.Despite recent developments, thees- tablishment of a merger control regime has not al- ways resulted in consensus in terms of its feasibility and efficiency. The approach adopted by Luxem- bourg for its upcoming merger control regime re- sults from the gradual effort to align with the EU’s legal framework, whilst considering the specific needs of its domesticmarket. The current antitrust andmerger control landscape inLuxembourg The foundation of modern competition law in Lux- embourg can be traced back to the law of 17 May 2004. This legislation created the first national com- petitionauthority,the ConseildelaConcurrence tasked with overseeing the application of both national and EUcompetitionrules,particularlythoseenshrinedin theTreatyontheFunctioningoftheEuropeanUnion (TFEU). The 2004 lawwas an important step inLux- embourg’s compliance with EU competition law, particularly Articles 101 and 102 TFEU, which pro- hibit anti-competitive agreements and the abuse of dominant positions. The lawof 23October 2011 further reformedLuxem- bourg’s competition regime, significantly enhancing the powers of the Conseil de la Concurrence . Most re- cently, the lawof 30November 2022 on competition, as amended,markeda newphase in themoderniza- tion of Luxembourg’s competition law. The scope of the law was mostly organizational and procedural. Notably, it strengthened the investigation and en- forcement powers of the newly named Autorité de la Concurrence ( the “ CompetitionAuthority ”). ThecurrentLuxembourglegalframeworkisorphan of merger control provisions and does not impose any ex-ante notificationrequirement formergers and acquisitions. The Competition Authority may only initiate a posteriori proceedings where a transaction, following its implementation, caused a distortion to competitionor resulted inanabuseof dominant po- sition. Nevertheless, despite the absence of ex-ante oversight, it is recommended thatmergers or acqui- sitions likely to impede competition be voluntarily submitted to the CompetitionAuthority. Any opin- ions or decisions rendered by the Competition Au- thority in such cases, however, do not carry legally binding force. Further on,mergers that posea threat tocompetition inLuxembourgmaycurrentlybe referred to theEu- ropean Commission ( EC ) for review at the request of the CompetitionAuthority, according to the pro- ceduredefinedunder theEUmerger control frame- work and to the extent the stringent EU’s jurisdictional thresholds aremet. The EUmerger control regime Within the EU and the wider European Economic Area,themainlegalframeworkforregulatingmerg- ers andacquisitions betweencompanies (referred to as “undertakings”) is Council Regulation (EC) N° 139/2004of 20 January2004on the control of concen- trations between undertakings (the “ EC Merger Regulation ”). The EC Merger Regulation creates a “one-stop-shop” approach, whereby the EC is granted jurisdiction to scrutinize transactions quali- fying as concentrations subject to certain jurisdic- tional thresholds. The concept of concentration, as defined by the EC Merger Regulation, encompasses transactions bring- ingaboutalastingchangeinanundertaking’scontrol, suchasacquisitions,mergersandthecreationofajoint ventureperformingonalastingbasisallthefunctions of an autonomous economic en- tity. In addition, the concentra- tion must have a so-called communitydimension,mean- ing that certain turnover thresholds set out under the EC Merger Regulation must be reached. Said concentra- tions must be notified to the EC ex-ante (beforeimplemen- tation),andimplementation may not occur prior to obtaining clearance. The clearance proce- dure potentially has two stages. During the first stage (Phase I), the EC disposes of 25 busi- nessdaysafterthereceipt of the formal notification to analyze the transaction and either grant clearance on the transactionoropenaPhaseIIinvestigationifitdeems that the concentration raises concerns in respect of its compatibilitywith the commonmarket. The Phase II investigationmust be completedby theECwithin90 businessdays,withthepossibilitytoextentthisperiod by up to 20 business days. At the end of Phase II, the ECmay either, unconditionally clear the transaction, approve the transaction subject to remedies, or pro- hibit the transaction if no adequate remedies have beenproposedby the parties. Key features of Luxembourg’s upcomingmerger control regime On 23 August 2023, the Luxembourg Ministry of Economy submitted the draft bill of law n°8296 in- troducing a mandatorymerger control regime (the “ Bill ”).TheBillcoverstransactionsqualifyingascon- centrations within similar terms as the EC Merger Regulation, and where said concentrations have a national dimension. Concentrations not fallingwithin the scope of the EC Merger Regulation shall be notified ex-ante to the CompetitionAuthorityiftheytriggercumulativelythe following two thresholds: (i) the combined annual turnover (i.e., the sum of products sold and/or services provided to undertak- ings or consumers in Luxembourg) of all the parties involved in the transaction exceeds EUR 60 million (exclusive of taxes); and (ii) at least two of the parties involved in the transac- tionhaveanindividualannualturnovergeneratedin Luxembourg which exceeds EUR 15 million (exclu- sive of taxes) Special rules will apply to the calculation of the turnover of credit and other financial institutions and insurance and reinsurance companies. With the exception of private equity transactions, acqui- sitions carried out by investment funds, securiti- zation funds, securitization vehicles or pension funds are excluded from the scope of the merger control regime. Implementationof a transactionnotified to theCom- petition Authority may not occur prior to obtaining clearance.Ingeneralterms,theclearanceprocedureis similar to the procedure provided by the ECMerger Regulation. Concentrations unlikely to have restrictive effects on competition may be submitted through a simplified notificationprocedure. Practical implications of the Luxembourgmerger control regime To avoid being caught off guard by the changes in- troduced by the Bill, the following points should be factored for upcoming transactions. Firstly, even if a clear timeline for the adoption of the Bill cannot be provided at this stage, companies shouldbeginincorporatingLuxembourgmergercon- trolconsiderationsintotheirtransactionschedulesfor 2025. The merger control regime will apply to trans- action agreements executed as fromthe 1 st day of the 4 th month following the publication of the law in the Luxembourg Official Journal (e.g., if the law is pub- lishedduringAugust2025,itwillapplyasfrom1De- cember 2025). Secondly,conditionsprecedent( conditionssuspensives ) relating to merger control should be included in the transactionagreements.Theywillprovideprotection to the parties by: (i) ensuring that neither party is obligated to close the transactionbefore receipt of clearanceby theCompe- titionAuthority; (ii) in case of opening of a Phase II investigation, al- lowingeitherpartytowalk-outofthetransaction;and (iii) safeguarding the purchaser frombeing forced to closethetransactionunderunsatisfactoryterms,such as a requirement by theCompetitionAuthority todi- vest a business of the target company or of the pur- chaser group Thirdly, if the purchaser is a competitor of the target company, the seller should take into account the im- pactofcompetitionlawandmergercontroloncertain provisionsofthetransactiondocumentsrelatingtothe periodbetweensigningandclosing.Thisconcerns,for example, access and information obligations and the conductofthebusinessofthetargetcompany.Insuch cases, it is crucial tocarefullymanage the exchangeof commercially sensitive information to avoid breach- ingArticle 4of the lawof 30November 2022oncom- petition,asamended.Totheextentpossible,sensitive informationshouldbelimitedtohistoricalratherthan projectedinformationandbeofgeneralnaturerather than customer specific. Lastly,companiesshouldbepreparedtoholdpre-no- tificationandpost-notificationtalkswiththeCompe- tition Authority and potentially offer remedies to address any anti-competitive effects. Conclusion The merger control regime in Luxembourg marks a notable step forward in the Nation’s commitment to preserving competitive markets and fostering a healthy economic environment. By introducing a structured and transparent process for the review of concentrations,Luxembourgalignswithinternational best practices and provides clarity and predictability for businesses operatingwithin its borders. Balancing Powers: How is Luxembourg shaping its merger control regime?