EIGHT MERGER CASES CLEARED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION.

Banking: A joint venture between Deutsche Bank AG, Germany, and BHS Holding GmbH, Germany, which belongs to the Metro group, was cleared by the Commission on December 21. The venture will offer clearing and payment systems and Back-Office service that are made for enterprises active in the Internet. It will carry out its activities mainly in the German-speaking areas. In view of the limited nature of the transaction and given the existence of a large number of competitors, the Commission decided to approve the transaction and to declare it compatible with the common market.Household goods: The Commission on December 21 cleared Swedish companies AB Electrolux and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson to form a joint venture to produce products, applications and services capable of communicating electronically with household appliances. It found no overlap between the fields of activity of the parent companies. The activities of the new joint venture will concern new products and services. The positions of Electrolux and Ericsson on the markets upstream and downstream of the intended fields of activity of the joint venture are not significant enough to warrant any further scrutiny. The parents of the new joint venture, Electrolux and Ericsson, are both Swedish companies with activities world-wide. Electrolux is a manufacturer and supplier of domestic, household and professional appliances. Ericsson is active in manufacturing and supplying telecommunications systems and equipment, and operates in various fields related to the telecommunications sector.Cement: The Commission cleared the planned joint venture between two German firms Lafarge Beton GmbH, controlled by the Lafarge group, and Readymix Beton Rhein-Ruhr GmbH, belonging to the Readymix group, on December 21. Both firms are active in the building materials sector, in particular cement and ready-mixed concrete. The new joint venture will...