European Commission clears tyre merger at phase I

The European Commission has unconditionally cleared the acquisition of Bandag by Bridgestone without requiring phase II investigation. In Europe, Bridgestone predominantly supplies new tyres to car manufacturers and tyre dealers and also has activities in the truck tyre re-treading sector. Bandag sells tread and re-treading equipment to re-treading businesses, which operate as Bandag franchisees. The Commission concluded 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. The combined firm would continue to face strong, effective competition from companies such as Michelin, Goodyear and Kraiburg. The transaction had been previously cleared in the US by the Department of Justice. CRA advised the merging parties both in the US and in Europe. Bridgestone and Bandag were represented by Jones Day and Foley Lardner, respectively. CRA's work in Europe was led by Robert Stillman and Pascale Déchamps.

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