L 7218 Official Journal of the European Union 13.3.2007 II (Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is not obligatory) DECISIONS COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 10 July 2006 declaring a concentration compatible with the common market and the functioning of the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/M.4000 — Inco(Falconbridge) (notified under document number C(2006) 3052) (Only the English version is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2007/163[EC) On 4 July 2006 the Commission adopted a Decision in a merger case pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 of 20 January 2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (1), and in particular Article 8(2) of that Regulation. A non-confidential version of the full Decision can be found in the authentic language of the case and in the working languages of the Commission on the website of the Directorate-General for Competition, at the following address: http://ec.europa.eu/comm/ competition/index_en.html I. SUMMARY This case concerns the acquisition by Inco Ltd (Inco, Canada) of Falconbridge Ltd (Falconbridge, Canada). Both companies are active worldwide in the mining, processing, refining and sale of various nickel products, copper, cobalt and precious metals. Inco is an international mining company principally active in the mining, processing, refining and sale of various nickel products, copper, cobalt and precious metals as well as sulphur products. Inco’s worldwide sales in 2004 were EUR 3 439 million. Inco’s activities are mainly focused on nickel, which accounted for 83 % of its total sales while copper accounted for 9 %, cobalt for 1 % and precious metals for 5 %. Falconbridge is an international mining company prin- cipally active in the mining, processing, refining and sale of various nickel products, copper, cobalt, lead, zinc, aluminium and precious metals as well as sulphur () O] L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1. products. Falconbridge generated in 2004 worldwide sales of EUR 5 610 million. Half of its sales related to copper, 26 % to nickel, 14 % to aluminium, 6 % to zinc and 2 % to cobalt. On 11 October 2005, Inco announced its intention to acquire, by way of a public bid, all of the outstanding shares of Falconbridge. Under the proposed transaction, Inco will acquire sole control over Falconbridge. It therefore constitutes a concentration within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation. The notified operation is therefore a concentration. The market investigation has revealed that the trans- action, as notified, would significantly impede effective competition on the market for the supply of nickel to the plating and electroforming industry in the EEA, and on the global markets for the supply of high-purity nickel for the production of super alloys/super alloys used in safety critical parts and for the supply of high- purity cobalt for the production of super alloys used in safety critical parts. Post merger, the new entity would have become by far the largest supplier in the EEA of