(1) The undertakings may not implement a concentration not cleared by the Bundeskartellamt, nor participate in implementing such a concentration, before the expiry of the time limits referred to in Section 40(1) sentence 1 and Section 40(2) sentence 2. Legal transactions violating this prohibition shall be void. This shall not apply to
1. real estate agreements once they have become legally valid by entry into the land register;
2. agreements on the transformation, integration or formation of an undertaking and inter-company agreements within the meaning of Sections 291 and 292 of the German Stock Corporation Act, once they have become legally valid by entry into the appropriate register; and
3. other legal transactions if the non-notified concentration was notified after the concentration was implemented and the dissolution proceedings under subsection (3) were ended because the conditions for a prohibition were not met, or if the restraint of competition was removed based on a dissolution order pursuant to subsection (3) sentence 2 in conjunction with sentence 3, or if ministerial authorisation pursuant to Section 42 was granted.
(1a) Subsection (1) does not preclude the realisation of acquisition transactions where control, shares or a material competitive influence within the meaning of Section 37(1) or (2) is/are acquired from several sellers either by way of a public takeover bid or by way of a number of legal transactions in securities on a stock exchange, including securities that can be converted into other securities admitted to trading on an exchange or similar market, provided that the concentration is notified to the Bundeskartellamt pursuant to Section 39 without undue delay and that the acquirer does not exercise the voting rights attached to the shares or only exercises them to preserve the full value of its investment based on an exemption granted by the Bundeskartellamt pursuant to subsection (2).
(2) The Bundeskartellamt may, upon application, grant exemptions from the prohibition to implement a concentration if the undertakings concerned put forward important reasons for this, in particular to prevent serious damage to an undertaking concerned or to a third party. The exemption may be granted at any time, even prior to notification, and may be made subject to conditions and obligations. Section 40(3a) shall apply mutatis mutandis.
(3) A concentration which has been implemented and which fulfils the conditions for prohibition pursuant to Section 36(1) shall be dissolved unless the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy authorises the concentration pursuant to Section 42. The Bundeskartellamt shall order the measures necessary to dissolve the concentration. The restraint of competition may also be removed in other ways than by restoring the status quo ante.
(4) To enforce its order, the Bundeskartellamt may in particular
1. (repealed)
2. prohibit or limit the exercise of voting rights attached to shares in an undertaking concerned which are owned by another undertaking concerned or are attributable to it;
3. appoint a trustee who shall effect the dissolution of the concentration.