While any opposition from the European Commission to the creation of Siemens-Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG would likely be dismissed as unwarranted interference in the West German national interest, it is far from certain that the West German Kartel office will simply nod the acquisition through. A key question mark hangs over Nixdorf’s 8818 digital PABX business, which accounts for 10% of turnover, and it would come as no surprise if Siemens were to be required to divest this operation, which competes directly with its own office switch business. And the Kartel office turned down the acquisition by Daimler-Benz AG of Messerschmitt Blkow Blohm GmbH, which only went ahead after the Economics Minister Helmut Haussmann overruled its findings in a politically controversial decision. If the Kartel office turns down the Nixdorf deal, it would be politically embarrassing for Haussmann, a Free Democrat member of the coalition, to overturn its ruling again – the acquisition will make Siemens the second largest West German company after Daimler-Benz and the Free Democrats pride themselves on being the guardians of the interests of small business. A strong argument for the deal being nodded through is that Nixdorf is on the verge of bankruptcy – but that would only really be a deciding factor if Siemens were the only game in town. It is generally accepted that a West German solution has to be found for Nixdorf’s problems – Free Marketeers end at the Eng lish Channel – but as we have reported, both Mannes mann AG and Baverische MotorenWerke AG are also will ing buyers of a controlling stake in the company, and neither of those would likely need to lay off as many Nixdorf employees to eliminate duplicated posts and product lines as Siemens will have to do and at election time, such issues become crucial. The other argument is the commercial one – although Mannesmann has not become a major force in computers yet, it is arguable that that is because its business is simply not big enough, while BMW has not yet had the oppor tunity to try. Given the dismal record of Siemens Data Systems (see below), it is likely that politici ans will demand that somebody else be given a chance.
