(1) A concentration shall be deemed to exist in the following cases:
1. acquisition of all or of a substantial part of the assets of another undertaking; this shall also apply where assets are acquired from an undertaking operating in Germany that has not yet achieved any turnover;
2. acquisition of direct or indirect control by one or several undertakings of the whole or parts of one or several other undertakings. Control shall be constituted by rights, contracts or any other means which, either separately or in combination and in consideration of all factual and legal circumstances, confer the possibility of exercising decisive influence on the activity of an undertaking, in particular through:
a) ownership or the right to use all or part of the assets of the undertaking;
b) rights or contracts which confer decisive influence on the composition, deliberations or decisions of the corporate bodies of the undertaking;
this shall also apply where an undertaking operating in Germany has not yet achieved any turnover;
3. acquisition of shares in another undertaking if the shares, either separately or in combination with other shares already held by the undertaking, reach
a) 50 per cent or
b) 25 per cent
of the capital or the voting rights of the other undertaking. The shares held by the undertaking shall also include the shares held by another for the account of this undertaking and, if the owner of the undertaking is a sole proprietor, also any other shares held by him. If several undertakings simultaneously or successively acquire shares in another undertaking to the extent mentioned above, this shall also be deemed a concentration between the undertakings concerned with respect to those markets on which the other undertaking operates;
4. any other combination of undertakings enabling one or several undertakings to directly or indirectly exercise a material competitive influence on another undertaking.
(2) A concentration shall also be deemed to exist if the undertakings concerned had already merged previously, unless the concentration does not result in a substantial strengthening of the existing affiliation between the undertakings.
(3) If credit institutions, financial institutions or insurance undertakings acquire shares in another undertaking for the purpose of resale, this shall not be deemed a concentration as long as they do not exercise the voting rights attached to the shares and provided the resale occurs within one year. This time limit may, upon application, be extended by the Bundeskartellamt if it is credibly demonstrated that the resale was not reasonably possible within this period.