17.5.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities L 132/45 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 11 July 2001 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market and the functioning of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/M.2314 — BASF/Eurodiol/Pantochim) (notified under document number C(2001) 1856) (Only the English text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2002/365EC) 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 thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 of 21 December 1989 on the control of concentrations between undertakings ('), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1310/ 97 (%), and in particular Article 8(2) thereof, Having regard to the Commission decision of 27 March 2001 to initiate proceedings in this case, Having given the undertakings concerned the opportunity to make known their views on the objections raised by the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the Advisory Committee on Concentrations (%), Whereas: (1)  On 12 February 2001, the Commission received noti- fication pursuant to Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) 4064/ 89 (‘the Merger Regulation’) of a proposed concentration by which the German undertaking BASF AG (BASF) acquires control of the whole of the Belgian undertak- ings Pantochim SA (Pantochim) and Eurodiol SA (Euro- diol) by way of a binding purchase agreement dated 29 December 2000. (2)  After examination of the notification, the Commission concluded that the notified operation fell within the scope of the Merger Regulation. Commitments were () OJ L 395, 30.12.1989, p. 1; corrected version in O] L 257, 21.9.1990, p. 13. (® OJ L 180, 9.7.1997, p. 1; corrigendum O] L 40, 13.2.1998, p. 17. () O] C 116, 17.5.2002. offered during the initial phase of the Commission's investigation pursuant to Article 6(2) of the Merger Regulation for the purposes of a first phase clearance decision. These commitments were not sufficient to remove the competitive concerns raised by the merger. The Commission considered therefore that the operation raised serious doubts as to its compatibility with the common market. Therefore, on 27 March 2001, the Commission decided to initiate proceedings pursuant to Article 6(1)(c) of the Merger Regulation. I. THE PARTIES BASF is a company with world-wide activities in the production and distribution of speciality chemicals and other chemical products, health and nutrition products, oil and gas. Eurodiol and Pantochim are Belgian companies. Both are subsidiaries of the SISAS group, based in Italy and Luxembourg. Pantochim is active in the production of a number of chemicals, mainly phthalic anhydride (PA) and phthalates. Eurodiol is active in the production of 1,4-butanediol (BDO) and BDO-related chemicals gamma-butyrolacton (GBL), N-methylpyrrolidon (NMP) and tetrahydrofuran (THF). On 18 September 2000, Eurodiol and Pantochim were placed under a pre-bankruptcy regime (concordat judi- ciaire) by the Court of Charleroi, Court of Commerce (Tribunal de commerce) Belgium. In the same judgment, the Court nominated four Court Commissioners (Commissaires au sursis) to supervise the management of