German officials are in a dispute with the European Commission over which competition authority should have jurisdiction over the planned acquisition of one building materials firm by another.
The European Commission this week rejected a request from Germany to refer the matter to its national competition authority, according to information released by the European Commission. At issue is the planned acquisition of Cemex West, a group of subsidiaries of Mexican-based Cemex Group, by Swiss-based Holcim, which supplies cement, ready-mix concrete, and other materials to customers around the world. Cemex West, which also supplies cement and other building materials, has assets in North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland in Germany, as well as in France and the Netherlands close to the German border.
