A leading Hungarian building materials producer and largest cement importer into Croatia, DDC announced in 2015 that it had reached agreement to buy the Cemex operations in Croatia for €230.9 million.
The sale included three cement plants, two quarries and seven ready-mixed concrete plants across Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia.
On 10 October 2016, however, the European Commission initiated an investigation into the acquisition on the grounds that the transaction had a “Union dimension”, which granted it jurisdiction to review the deal.
According to Heidelberg Cement, this conclusion was based on an incorrect reading of the relevant regulations and the commission therefore lacks the competence to review the transaction.
