Judgment of the General Court in case T-289/24

PRESS RELEASE No 80/25 Luxembourg, 2 July 2025 Judgment of the General Court in Case T-289/24 | Brasserie Nationale and Munhowen v Commission Merger control: the General Court upholds the Commission’s decision to examine, at the request of Luxembourg, the acquisition of Boissons Heintz by Brasserie Nationale (Munhowen) Since information limited to the mere existence of a concentration does not constitute ‘making known’ within the meaning of EU law, Brasserie Nationale and Munhowen have not shown that the request for referral had been submitted out of time Brasserie Nationale, a Luxembourg company producing beer and mineral water, owns Munhowen, its 100% subsidiary, which specialises in the wholesale distribution of beverages in Luxembourg and in the border regions of France and Belgium. On 22 December 2023 and 10 January 2024, Brasserie Nationale informed the Competition Authority of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (‘LCA’) of its intention to acquire sole control of Boissons Heintz – a Luxembourg company engaged in the wholesale distribution of beverages – through Munhowen, which intended to acquire all the shares in that company. Since the relevant turnovers were not met, that concentration did not have a European dimension and therefore did not have to be notified to the European Commission. Moreover, in the absence of a merger control system in Luxembourg, there was no obligation to notify on that basis in that Member State. Nor was that...