European Commission and Directorate-General for Competition 23 July 2012, Commission Decision of 23/07/2012 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.6568 - CISCO SYSTEMS / NDS GROUP) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

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The European Commission, pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004, assessed the proposed acquisition of sole control of NDS Group Limited by Cisco Systems, Inc. through purchase of shares, finding that the transaction had an EU dimension given the parties' combined worldwide turnover exceeding EUR 5,000 million. The Commission examined horizontal overlaps in the markets for conditional access systems (CAS), middleware, set-top boxes (STBs), and ancillary pay-TV software, as well as non-horizontal (conglomerate) concerns regarding potential foreclosure of rival STB suppliers through degraded compatibility, raising of rivals' costs, or mixed bundling strategies. The Commission concluded that the merged entity's post-transaction market shares remained below 30% in the relevant markets, that it would lack both the ability and incentive to foreclose competitors, and that any foreseeable effects of such strategies would be limited, declaring the concentration compatible with the internal market.AI