EU Commission Approves Bridgestone’s Bandag Acquisition

The European Commission has cleared Bridgestone Americas Holding Inc’s proposed acquisition of Bandag. After examining the operation the Commission concluded that the transaction “would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.” Making its decision the commission concluded that the new combined firm would continue to face strong, effective competition from companies such as Michelin, Goodyear and Kraiburg.

According to the report, the main horizontal overlap occurs between the parties with regard to the re-treading business, particularly the supply of re-treading material to independent businesses active in the re-treading of tyres. However, the Commission’s examination of the proposed merger showed that the horizontal overlaps between the activities of Bridgestone and Bandag are limited and that the transaction would not lead to major structural changes on the re-treading market.