The European Commission has partially waived under the EU Merger Regulation the commitments made by Gategroup to obtain clearance of its acquisition of Lufthansa’s LSG European in-flight catering business. The Commission approved the transaction, subject to conditions, in April 2020.
The partial waiver concerns certain in-flight catering contracts with airlines at Rome Fiumicino airport (the ‘FCO divestment business’). Upon receipt of the waiver request from Gategroup, the Commission has assessed the changed market conditions. The Commission’s assessment revealed that the structure of the relevant market for in-flight catering at Rome FCO has changed in a way that was not reasonably foreseeable at the time of the adoption of the decision approving the transaction.
The Commission also considers that with the requested changes to the commitments relating to the FCO divestment business, the competition concerns outlined in the clearance decision no longer arise and are no longer likely to arise. On this basis, the Commission has decided to approve Gategroup’s waiver request.
More information is available on the Commission’s competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.9546.