Beumer sues EU antitrust regulators over Vanderlande, Siemens deal, court filing shows

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS, July 24 (Reuters) - German logistics group Beumer Group has taken EU antitrust regulators to court for refusing to examine Dutch rival Vanderlande's acquisition of Siemens' airport logistics unit, a court filing seen by Reuters showed.

Siemens announced the €300 million ($341.31 million) deal two years ago to Dutch producer of luggage conveyor belts and parcel-sorting systems Vanderlande, owned by Japan's Toyota Industries, triggering Beumer's concerns.

Vanderlande sought approval of the deal from regulators in Portugal and Spain in March this year. Those countries, plus Italy, subsequently asked the European Commission to take over the case.

The EU competition enforcer in May rejected the requests.

The Commission said the requests were not appropriate for the EU as the deal had been implemented for more than a year. It said Portugal and Spain should continue to examine the case since national agencies regularly scrutinise the market.

Beumer, in its court appeal, said the Commission was wrong not to assess the deal and urged the court to annul its decision.

"The Commission has no discretion to reject a referral request where it is clear, on the basis of objective criteria, that the requesting national competition authorities (NCAs) are not well placed to review the concentration effectively," it said in its July 17 filing, adding that national watchdogs lack the power to unwind the deal.

Beumer said the EU decision was also based on legally irrelevant criteria.

"As always, the Commission stands ready to defend all its decisions in Court," a Commission spokesperson said.

Cases at the Luxembourg-based General Court usually take several years.

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(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Rod Nickel)