Prior notification of a concentration (Case COMP/M.7101 — Brookfield Property/Starwood/Interhotel Portfolio) — Candidate case for simplified procedure  Text with EEA relevance
Date: 2013-11-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Germany, economic concentration, hotel industry, investment company, merger control, property market








C_2013345EN.01002301.xml










26.11.2013   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 345/23





Prior notification of a concentration
(Case COMP/M.7101 — Brookfield Property/Starwood/Interhotel Portfolio)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
2013/C 345/11






1.


On 15 November 2013, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which Brookfield Property Partners LP (‘BPY’, Bermuda) together with Starwood Capital Group Global, LP (‘Starwood’, USA) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of 13 hotels in Germany (the ‘Interhotel Portfolio’, Germany) by way of purchase of shares.










2.


The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






—


BPY is a global commercial property company that owns, operates and invests in best-in-class office, retail, multifamily and industrial assets,










—


Starwood is a privately held global investment firm which invests in a number of asset classes — including multifamily, office, retail, hotel, industrial, residential and commercial land, senior housing, mixed-use and golf, and in all levels of the capital structure — including equity, preferred equity, mezzanine debt and senior debt, depending on the risk-reward profile,










—


The Interhotel Portfolio consists of 13 chain hotels located in the following six cities in Germany: Berlin (The Westin Grand Berlin, Park Inn by Radisson Berlin Alexanderplatz), Dresden (The Westin Bellevue Dresden, Pullman Dresden Newa, Ibis Hotel Bastei, Ibis Hotel Königstein, Ibis Styles Hotel Lilienstein), Leipzig (The Westin Leipzig, Radisson Blu Leipzig, Astoria Leipzig), Erfurt (Radisson Blu Erfurt), Potsdam (Mercure Potsdam) and Chemnitz (Mercure Kongress Chemnitz).














3.


On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the EC Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved. Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under the EC Merger Regulation (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in the Notice.










4.


The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.
Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. Observations can be sent to the Commission by fax (+32 22964301), by email to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post, under reference number COMP/M.7101 — Brookfield Property/Starwood/Interhotel Portfolio, to the following address:





European Commission




Directorate-General for Competition




Merger Registry




1049 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË










(1)  OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘EC Merger Regulation’).

(2)  OJ C 56, 5.3.2005, p. 32 (‘Notice on a simplified procedure’).