19.3.2004 Official Journal of the European Union L 82/73 COMMISSION DECISION of 23 July 2003 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market and the EEA Agreement (Case COMP/M.2972 — DSM/Roche Vitamins) (notified under document number C(2003) 2648) (Only the English text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2004/238[EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Com- munity, Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and in particular Article 57 thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 of 21 December 1989 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1310/ 97 (3, and in particular Article 8(2) thereof, Having regard to the Commission’s decision of 19 May 2003 to initiate proceedings in this case, Having regard to the opinion of the Advisory Committee on Concentrations (%), Having regard to the final report of the Hearing Officer in this case (%), Whereas: . INTRODUCTION (1) On 31 March 2003, the Commission received a notifi- cation pursuant to Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 (the Merger Regulation’) of a proposed concentration by which the undertaking DSM NV (DSM) would acquire control within the meaning of Article 3 of the Merger Regulation of the whole of the undertaking Roche Vitamins and Fine Chemicals Divi- sion (RV & FC) by way of purchase of shares and assets. (2)  After examination of the notification and a set of undertakings submitted by DSM on 25 April 2003 as amended on 13 May 2003, the Commission concluded, on 19 May 2003, that the notified operation fell within the scope of the Merger Regulation and that it raised serious doubts as to its compatibility with the common (") OJ L 395, 30.12.1989, p. 1 (corrected version OJ L 257, 21.9.1990, p. 13). () OJL180,9.7.1997, p. 1. () OJ C 69, 19.3.2004. (*) OJ C 69, 19.3.2004. ®) market and the EEA Agreement. The Commission there- fore decided to initiate proceedings in accordance with Article 6(1)(c) of the Merger Regulation. On 27 June 2003 a new set of undertakings was submitted by DSM. On 9 July 2003 a final set of undertakings was submitted by DSM. The Advisory Committee discussed the draft of this Decision on 18 July 2003. This Decision is adopted pursuant to Article 10(2) of the Merger Regulation. That provision requires decisions taken pursuant to Article 8(2) to be taken as soon as it appears that the serious doubts referred to in Article 6(1)(c) have been removed. This applies in particular where the parties have offered commitments. The revised commitments offered by the parties remove the serious doubts as to the compatibility of the concentration with the common market, so that a conditional Decision pursuant to Article 8(2) and Article 10(2) clearing the concentration may be adopted. II. THE PARTIES DSM is incorporated in the Netherlands as a public limited liability company with its corporate seat in Heerlen. DSM has subsidiaries in Europe, the United States and elsewhere in the world and is active in the development and production of a broad range of chemical and life science products including feed enzymes, performance materials and polymers and industrial chemicals. Roche Holding is the ultimate parent of the Roche group, which consists of three divisions: pharmaceuti- cals, diagnostics and vitamins and fine chemicals. It is the latter division (RV & FC) which is the subject of the notified transaction.