According tor EU Merger Regulations, the European Commission this past week approved U.K.-based DS Smith’s acquisition of Duropack, Austria.

Duropack produces paper, corrugated case material, corrugated sheet, corrugated cases, and partitions especially in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. DS Smith produces and provides corrugated packaging in several EU countries. The companies' activities overlap in some corrugated case and corrugated sheet market areas, giving rise to both horizontally and vertically affected markets in Austria, France, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Sweden and Hungary.

The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would not raise competition concerns because the parties' combined market shares will remain moderate and the merged entity will continue to face competition from a number of significant competitors or because the increment in market share brought about by the transaction is highly limited.

The transaction was examined under the normal merger review procedure.