The joint venture between GEC Plc and Siemens AG, formed to make a joint bid for Plessey Co Plc was not cleared with the Commission of the European Communities in advance – and is therefore null and void, it told the Evening Standard yesterday. According to the paper, the Commission will shortly warn the partners that their joint venture may be anti-competitive and could have to be broken up. The Commission has not yet reached a final decision, but appears to be miffed it was not consulted in advance. Brussels lawyers say that a ruling that the partnership was anticompetitive would be consistent with a similar ruling on the consortium bid made for Irish Distillers Ltd.
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