AGCM

Stampa

BS INVESTIMENTI SGR/RAMO D’AZIENDA DI S.A.F.E. – SOCIETÀ AUTOTRASPORTI FIDUCIARI EUROPEI, BS INVESTIMENTI SGR/ SECURCONTROL (MACERATA)-SECURCONTROL (ASCOLI PICENO)-METROPOL SECURITY SERVICE


PRESS RELEASE



PRESS RELEASE

PRIVATE SECURITY FIRMS: ANTITRUST AUTHORITY GIVES CONDITIONAL CONSENT TO SICURGLOBAL'S ACQUISITIONS IN THE PROVINCES OF ASCOLI PICENO AND TERAMO. PAVIA PURCHASE DISALLOWED.

THE COMPANY MUST FOREGO ANY FURTHER ENLARGEMENT IN THE PROVINCES OF PESARO, MACERATA AND ASCOLI PICENO AND GIVE UP ANY UNUSED LICENCES.

The Italian Competition Authority, at its meeting on 19 April 2007, decided to authorize the acquisition by SICURGLOBAL, a private security company, of Metropol, a firm operating in the Provinces of Ascoli Piceno and Teramo, on condition that it comply with certain measures. Specifically, the Authority accepted and rendered obligatory the commitment proposed by the company not to go ahead with the purchase of two companies, Securcontrol S.r.l. and Securcontrol PSG, which operate respectively in the Provinces of Macerata and Pesaro, and in Fermo and a number of municipalities in the Province of Ascoli Piceno. In a separate ruling, the Authority prohibited SICURGLOBAL's takeover of a division of S.A.F.E. in the Province of Pavia as that might have strengthened its dominant position in such a way as to eliminate or substantially and lastingly reduce competition. The Authority considered the commitments proposed by the company during this second proceeding to be insufficient to eliminate the anti-competitive effects.

The takeovers proposed by Sicurglobal in the Provinces of Ascoli Piceno, Macerata, Teramo and Pesaro

The operations submitted to the Authority's attention included the purchase by SICURGLOBAL (a subsidiary of BSPE, a company which buys, manages and sells shareholdings and sets up and manages investment funds) of the following three companies which operate in the areas of security, security consulting, and the sale, installation and maintenance of security systems:

  1. Securcontrol S.r.l., operating in the Provinces of Macerata and Pesaro;
  2. Securcontrol PSG, operating in Fermo and in a number of nearby municipalities in the Province of Ascoli Piceno;
  1. Metropol, operating in a number of municipalities in the Province of Ascoli Piceno and in the Province of Teramo.
The investigation carried out by the Authority showed that the purchase of Securcontrol S.r.l. would have created one single operator in the Province of Macerata while in the Province of Pesaro the new entity would have become the largest operator with a market share of well over five per cent. The acquisition of Securcontrol PSG in the Province of Ascoli would have produced similar effects. So the takeovers would have created or strengthened a dominant position by SICURGLOBAL in the Provinces of Macerata, Ascoli and Pesaro-Urbino, where the present lack of serious competition would have been accentuated.
On the other hand, the merger did not create competitive concerns in the Province of Teramo, where there was no overlap between the parties.
The analysis also took into account the regulatory barriers existing in this industry which is noted for the difficulty in obtaining new permits, in the hiring of new staff and in the use of price as a lever. The private security industry is subject to the granting of licences by the Prefecture; these also condition company organization in terms of the number of  employees with respect to the requirements of the territory. The investigation also revealed that in the Provinces involved no new licences have been granted in the last three years.
SICURGLOBAL therefore undertook:
  1. not to buy Securcontrol S.r.l. (headquartered in Macerata) or Securcontrol PSG (headquartered in Ascoli Piceno) and consequently not to exercise its option in this regard;
  2. to hand back to the Prefect of Ascoli Piceno the licences that, because of the acquisition of Metropol Security Service S.r.l., are no longer necessary because they cover services that are already carried out by the acquiring company in the Province of Ascoli Piceno;
  3. to request that the Prefect of Ascoli Piceno reduce the number of  authorized armed guards [Guardie Particolari Giurate or “GPG”] over and above those actually used in that Province by the new entity;
  4. not to increase in the Province of Ascoli Piceno the number of armed guards actually used or the number of vehicles and armoured cars beyond the numbers already used and available to the new entity in that Province.
The purchase of S.A.F.E

On the other hand, the Authority vetoed SICURGLOBAL's purchase of the division of S.A.F.E. – Società Autotrasporti Fiduciari Europei S.p.A. which carries out private security functions, transport, safekeeping and accounting for valuables in the Province of Pavia. The merger would have resulted in a market share in all the sectors involved well in excess of 50 per cent, creating a single company offering the complete range of security services. The commitments proposed were not considered sufficient to guarantee a competitive market structure.

Rome, 23 April 2007