歐盟啟動反壟斷二階段深入的全方面調查 合併存在“涼涼了”的可能

歐盟在當地時間7月13日發佈了一份措辭強硬的聲明，表示將對西門子與阿爾斯通的軌道交通板塊業務合併將進行深入、全面的審查，並表示打造“歐洲鐵路旗艦”的交易協議可能難以獲得批准。

根據歐盟合併條例，歐盟委員會已開始進行深入調查，以評估西門子擬收購阿爾斯通的情況。 歐盟擔心合併可能會減少多種列車型號和信號系統供應的競爭。

負責競爭政策的歐盟委員瑪格麗特•維斯塔格（Margrethe Vestager）表示，擬議中的交易可能剝奪歐洲鐵路運營商選擇供應商和創新產品，並導致價格上漲，最終傷害數百萬使用鐵路運輸的歐洲人”。

雖然這是歐盟對合並審批程序的早期階段，但聲明中提出的問題的廣度和深度表明，西門子阿爾斯通存在“合併涼涼了”的可能。

西門子和阿爾斯通皆是全球軌道交通巨頭 整合影響方方面面

西門子和阿爾斯通都是軌道交通裝備業的全球領導者， 兩家公司都擁有廣泛的產品譜系，並在招標中競爭下列產品的製造和供應：

• 高速鐵路，幹線和城市軌道車輛 （列車）。高速鐵路車輛包括時速250公里/小時以上的長途旅行列車，幹線列車包括城際和區域列車，城軌車輛則包括地鐵和有軌電車。

  
  

• 幹線和城軌信號解決方案 。 信號系統解決方案包括在幹線和城市軌道網絡上提供安全運行控制的信號系統。

歐盟警告說發起的交易將使歐洲經濟區（EEA）中兩個最大的機車車輛和信號解決方案供應商整合在一起，不僅是合併規模方面，而且在他們業務的地理區域覆蓋方面。

歐盟關注競爭 合併使得西門子阿爾斯通不論在歐洲還是在中日韓以外的全球其他地方“天下無敵”

更具體地說，歐盟的初步調查發現：

• 在機車車輛方面：發起的交易將少了一個非常強大的競爭對手並減少供應商的數量。 關於高速列車，委員會已經審查了歐洲經濟區內和全球範圍內的交易影響（不包括中國，日本和韓國，這些國家似乎對來自外國供應商的進口設置了障礙）。 在這兩個地域市場中，合併後的主體將成為無可爭議的市場領導者，比最接近的競爭對手大三倍。 合併後的主體也將成為幹線（包括區域列車）和歐洲經濟區內城軌車輛的市場領導者。此外，在合併之後，該領域的競爭對手將很難與合併後主體的業績及其機車車輛基地競爭。

  
  

• 在信號系統方面：該委員會的初步調查發現，合併將從幾個幹線和城軌市場中刪除以往“非常強大的競爭對手”。一旦發起的交易完成後，西門子-阿爾斯通毋庸置疑將成為市場領導者，三倍市場份額於最臨近的競爭對手，並且不太可能面臨巨大的競爭壓力。

歐盟認為中國中車不是潛在威脅 最主要的合併理由遭到質疑

此外，在當前階段，歐盟發現新的競爭者進入歐洲經濟區軌道交通車輛或信號解決方案市場，特別是潛在的中國軌道交通裝備供應商，似乎不太可能在可預見的未來發生。

如果歐盟在深度反壟斷調查後維持該評估結論，它將破壞支持西門子-阿爾斯通合併交易的最重要支撐論據之一。

西門子此前一直強調中國中車對全球軌道交通市場的變革影響。去年9月宣佈這項交易時，西門子首席執行官喬·凱瑟（Joe Kaeser）表示：“亞洲的主導者已經改變了全球市場格局，數字化將影響交通的未來。”

西門子仍樂觀 敦促觀察員不要預判結果

西門子和阿爾斯通仍然預計該交易將在2019年上半年完成。合併後的集團收入為160億歐元，這一舉措得到法國和德國的政治支持，一些歐盟官員認為這將是最終決定的重要因素。

西門子週五表示，第二階段審查程序對於這種規模和性質的交易來說是“共同的”，並敦促觀察員不要“預先判斷調查結果”。它補充說，合併“將為我們的運輸解決方案的交通部門，為我們的客戶帶來巨大價值”。

龐巴迪及英國鐵路部門表示強烈反對

龐巴迪針對歐盟啟動的深度反壟斷調查表示歡迎。龐巴迪總法律顧問Daniel Desjardins表示，我們的觀點是該合併扭曲公平競爭，使得一家公司在信號領域具有完全主導權，鎖定了機車車輛的競爭，並以犧牲所有相關者的利益為代價控制整個行業。

英國監管機構鐵路和公路辦公室也對該交易表示強烈保留意見，稱合併後的西門子-阿爾斯通將控制75％的英國信號市場。據估計，由於競爭減少，合併“每年可能會增加數千萬英鎊的成本”。

European Commission - Press release

Mergers: Commission opens in-depth investigation into Siemens proposed acquisition of Alstom

Brussels, 13 July 2018

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess the proposed acquisition of Alstom by Siemens, under the EU Merger Regulation. The Commission is concerned that the merger may reduce competition in the supply of several types of trains and signalling systems.

Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said:"Trains and the signalling equipment that guide them are essential for transport in Europe. The Commission will investigate whether the proposed acquisition of Alstom by Siemens would deprive European rail operators of a choice of suppliers and innovative products, and lead to higher prices, which could ultimately harm the millions of Europeans who use rail transportation every day for work or leisure."

Siemens and Alstom are global leaders in rail transportation. Both companies have a wide product portfolio and compete in tenders for the manufacture and supply of:

• high speed, mainline and urban rolling stock (trains). High speed rolling stock includes trains operated for long-distance travel at speeds above 250 km/h, mainline rolling stock includes intercity and regional trains and urban rolling stock includes metros and trams.

• mainline and urban signalling solutions. Signalling solutions include signalling systems that provide safety controls on mainline and urban rail networks.

The proposed transaction would combine the two largest suppliers of rolling stock and signalling solutions in the European Economic Area (EEA) not only in terms of size of the combined operations, but also in terms of geographic footprint of their activities.

The Commission's competition concerns

At this stage, the Commission is concerned that the proposed transaction would reduce competition in the markets where the merged entity would be active. In particular, the Commission is concerned that the proposed transaction could lead to higher prices, less choice and less innovation due to reduced competitive pressure in rolling stock and signalling tenders. This would be to the detriment of train operators, infrastructure managers and ultimately European passengers who use trains and metros on a daily basis.

More specifically, the Commission's initial investigation found that:

• For rolling stock, the proposed transaction would remove a very strong competitor and reduce the number of suppliers. In relation to high speed trains, the Commission has examined the impact of the transaction both within the EEA and on a worldwide basis (excluding China, Japan and Korea which appear to have barriers preventing imports from foreign suppliers). On both of these geographic markets, the merged entity would be the undisputed market leader, over three times larger than the closest competitor. The merged entity will also become the market leader in mainline (including regional trains) and metro rolling stock in the EEA. Furthermore, after the proposed transaction, competitors in the sector would struggle to compete against the merged entity's track-record and installed-base of rolling stock.

• For signalling solutions, the proposed transaction would remove a very strong competitor from several mainline and urban signalling markets. After the proposed transaction, the merged entity would become the undisputed market leader, with around three times the market share of the closest competitor, and would be unlikely to face significant competitive pressure.

Furthermore, at this stage the Commission has found that the entry of new competitors into the EEA rolling stock or signalling solutions markets, including in particular of potential Chinese suppliers, appears unlikely to occur in the foreseeable future.

The Commission will now carry out an in-depth investigation into the effects of the transaction to determine whether its initial competition concerns are confirmed.

The transaction was notified to the Commission on 8 June 2018. The Commission now has 90 working days, until 21 November 2018, to take a decision. The opening of an in-depth investigation does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.

Companies and products

Siemens,

Alstom,based in France, is active worldwide in the rail transport industry, offering a wide range of transport solutions (from high-speed trains to metros, trams and e-buses), personalised services (maintenance and modernisation) as well as products dedicated to passengers and infrastructure, signalling solutions, rail electrification systems and digital mobility.

Merger control rules and procedures:

The transaction was notified to the Commission on 8 June 2018.

The Commission has the duty to assess mergers and acquisitions involving companies with a turnover above certain thresholds (see Article 1 of the Merger Regulation) and to prevent concentrations that would significantly impede effective competition in the EEA or any substantial part of it.

The vast majority of notified mergers do not pose competition problems and are cleared after a routine review. From the moment a transaction is notified, the Commission generally has a total of 25 working days to decide whether to grant approval (Phase I) or to start an in-depth investigation (Phase II).

In addition to the current transaction, there are four ongoing Phase II merger investigations: the proposed acquisition of Solvay's nylon business by BASF, the proposed acquisition of Tele2 NL by T-Mobile NL, the proposed acquisition of Shazam by Apple and the proposed merger of Praxair and Linde.

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