L 288/24 Official Journal of the European Communities 27.10.98 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 15 October 1997 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market and the functioning of the EEA Agreement (Case No IV/M.938 — Guinness/Grand Metropolitan) (notified under document number C(1997) 3169) (Only the English text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (98/602/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and in particular Article 57(2)(a) thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 of 21 December 1989 on the control of concentrations between undertakings ('), as amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, and in par- ticular Article 8(2) thereof, Having regard to the Commission Decision of 20 June 1997 to initiate proceedings in this case, Having given the undertakings concerned the oppor- tunity to make known their views on the objections raised by the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the Advisory Committee on Concentrations (?), WHEREAS: ()  On 16 May 1997 Guinness plc (‘Guinness’) and Grand Metropolitan plc (‘GrandMet') notified to the Commission their intention to create a new () OJ L 395, 30. 12. 1989, p. 1; corrected version OJ L 257, 21. 9.71990, p. 13. @) OJ C 329, 27. 10. 1998. company, to be called GMG Brands plc (GMG’) in which they will merge all their business activities. By Decision of 6 June 1997 the Commission ordered the continuation of the suspension of the notified concentration, pursuant to Article 7(2) and Article 18(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 (‘the Merger Regulation’) until it takes a final decision. On 20 June 1997, after examination of the applica- tion, the Commission concluded that the operation fell within the scope of the Merger Regulation and raised serious doubts as to its compatibility with the common market and decided to initiate proceedings pursuant to Article 6(1)(c) of the Merger Regulation. I. THE PARTIES A. GUINNESS Guinness is the UK-registered holding company of a group whose principal business activities are the production and distribution, throughout the world, of spirits (United Distillers — ‘UD’) and the