Decision Nº M/03/011 from Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, 2003-06-30

• Decision Date: 30 June 2003
• Decision Number: M/03/011
• Date: 30 June 2003
• Parties: General Electric Company,Crompton Corporation
• Status: Cleared (Phase 1)
• Court: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (Ireland)

Determination of the Competition Authority

Determination No. M/03/011 of the Competition Authority, dated 13 June 2003,

under Section 21 of the Competition Act, 2002

Notification No. M/03/011 – General Electric Company/Crompton Corporation

Introduction

1. On 16 May 2003 the Competition Authority, in accordance with Section 18(1) of

the Competition Act, 2002 (“the Act”) was notified, on a mandatory basis, of a

proposal whereby General Electric Company would acquire the silicones

business of Crompton Corporation.

The Parties

2. General Electric Company (“GE”) is an independent public company registered

in the USA. It is a diversified corporation active in a wide range of fields,

including polymers, plastics and speciality materials. In Europe, GE is active in

the silicones sector through GE/Bayer, a joint venture with Bayer AG.

3. Crompton Corporation (“Crompton”) produces and markets polymer products

and speciality chemicals, including standard and speciality silicone fluids.

Analysis

Product Market

4. In Case 1162 - GE/Bayer, 11 June 1998, the European Commission noted that

whilst from the demand-side the silicones sector would comprise thousands of

"micro markets" according to the specific applications for which the silicones are

used, supply-side considerations would lead to a regrouping into wider product

categories. On this basis, whilst declining to the define precisely the markets

concerned the Commission noted that the five product groups offered by the

parties - intermediates, fluids, specialities, elastomers, sealants - were recognised

in the industry to analyse silicones and were sufficient to assess the impact of the

transaction in question.

5. The Commission’s analysis is a useful starting point for the purposes of analysing

the impact of this proposal and thus, on the basis of this product grouping, the

only relevant overlaps between GE and Crompton occur in fluids and specialities.

Geographic Market

6. The Commission further considered that “in view of the absence of barriers to

trade, the low impact of transport costs the purchase patterns of customers, the

homogeneity of price levels and the substantial intra-community trade flows, the

narrowest conceivable market would be the EU.”

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