No L 59/32 Official Journal of the European Communities 4. 3. 88 ' COMMISSION DECISION of 22 December 1987 relating to a proceeding under Article 85 of the EEC Treaty (IV/27.093 — De Laval-Stork) (Only the Dutch and English texts are authentic) (88/110/EEC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, Having regard to Council Regulation No 17 of 6 February 1962, first Regulation implementing Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty (), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal, and in particular Articles 6 and 8 thereof, Having regard to the notification made on 2 March 1973 pursuant to Article 4 of Regulation No 17 by Stork Roterende Werktuigen BV of Assen, the Netherlands, (Stork) regarding the set of agreements (jv.a) it had concluded on 1 September 1971 with De Laval Turbine International Inc. of Princeton, New Jersey, USA (De Laval) for the creation of a joint venture, De Laval-Stork vof. (the jv); Stork’s parent company, Koninklijke Machinefabriek Stork BV of Hengelo, the Netherlands, (KMS) was also party to the agreements, which concern the design, development, manufacture and marketing of certain types of steam turbines, centnfugal compressors and pumps, Having regard to Decision 77/543/EEC () in which the Commission granted an exemption pursuant to Article 85 (3) in favour of the above parties, for a period ending on 1 September 1986, Having regard to the application for renewal of that exemption filed by the undertakings on 2 July 1986 pursuant to Article 8 (2) of Regulation No 17, Having regard to the publication pursuant to Article 19 (3) of Regulation No 17 of a summary of the agreements and relevant changes which have occured since Decision 77/543/EEC was adopted (), Having consulted the Advisory Committee on Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions pursuant to Article 10 (3) of Regulation No 17, () OJ No 13, 21. 2. 1962, p. 204/62. () OJ No L 215, 23. 8..1977, p. 11. () OJ No C 255, 25. 9. 1987, p. 3. \ WHEREAS : ™ I. THE FACTS Since the 1977 exemption Decision, De Laval’s corporate ownership has undergone a number of changes. At that time, it was a wholly-owned subsi- diary of De Laval Turbine Incorporated of Trenton, New Jersey, USA, which in its turn was controlled . by the Transamerica Corporation of San Prancisco, California, one of the largest conglomerates in the ~ USA. In 1979 the name of the parent company was changed to Transamerica Delaval Inc. Then, in December of 1986, all ties were broken between the parent company and the Transamerica Corpo- ration, accompanied by another change of name to Imo Delaval Inc.,, a fully independent company whose shares are quoted on the stock market. De Laval, previously of Princeton and now of Lawren- ceville, New Jersey, remains a wholly-owned subsi- diary of Imo Delaval Inc. As for KMS, which owned Stork (previously of Assen and now of Hengelo, the Netherlands), its parent company was known until 1978 as Verenigde Machinefabricken NV (VMF) of Amsterdam,- Netherlands, and thereafter as Verenigde Machinefabrieken Stork NV (VMF Stork), likewise of Amsterdam. In 1978 the ownership of Stork was transferred from KMS to VMF stork. Sine the exemption Decison of 1977 the followmg circumstances have changed in the arrangements between the parties : (a) while the original jv.a. was concluded for five years (renewable), the term is now indefinite, with a more flexible provision for termination, namely upon 18 months’ notice by either party ; (b) De Laval’s option to extend its participation in the jv. to 80 % has been deleted ; () the machines and equipment, which were on hire-purchase, now belong fully to the jwv.; (d) the parent company of De Laval, which has continued its independent activities with respect to the products covered by the jv. on markets outside the EEC and Eastern Europe, has expanded its activities on the European market to include the manufacture and sale of equipment relating to temperature, pressure,