EUROPE: The European Commission has given the go-ahead for Genève-based wagon leasing firm Financière Ermewa to be acquired by SNCF subsidiary Transport et Logistique Partenaires, subject to the condition that the Swiss firm's cereal transport activities are divested.

Ermewa was previously owned by TLP and Citerne Invest. TLP is already involved in cereal transport by rail, and the European Commission's market investigation found that the acquisition of Citerne Invest's 51·4% stake in Ermewa would combine the two main players in the sector, and as a result was likely to raise competition concerns in France, Benelux, Italy and part of Germany.