Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.8431 — OMERS/AIMCo/Vue/Dalian Wanda Group/UCI Italia/JV) — Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance. )
Date: 2017-04-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: advertising, cinema, economic concentration, film industry, investment company, merger control, supplementary pension








C_2017123EN.01001101.xml










20.4.2017   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 123/11





Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.8431 — OMERS/AIMCo/Vue/Dalian Wanda Group/UCI Italia/JV)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2017/C 123/12)






1.


On 7 April 2017, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which the undertakings The Space Cinema 1 SpA (‘TSC’, Italy), indirectly controlled by Vue International Holdco Limited (‘Vue’, United Kingdom), jointly controlled by Alberta Investment Management Corporations (‘AIMCo’, Canada) and OCP Investment Corporation (‘OMERS’, Canada), and UCI Italia SpA (‘UCI Italia’, Italy), controlled by the Dalian Wanda Group (China) via AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (‘AMC’, United States) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of a newly created joint venture (‘JV’) by way of a purchase of shares in a newly created company constituting a joint venture.










2.


The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
—   for TSC: cinema exhibition services in Italy where it operates 36 cinemas,
—   for Vue: cinema exhibition services in the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Denmark, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania and Taiwan. Vue currently operates a total of 211 cinemas,
—   for AIMCo: investment management, investing globally on behalf of its clients, various pension, endowment and government funds in the Province of Alberta (Canada),
—   for OMERS: administration of one of Canada’s leading pension funds, providing retirement benefits, management of a diversified global portfolio of stocks and bonds as well as real estate, infrastructure and private equity investments,
—   for UCI Italia: cinema exhibition services in Italy where it operates 48 cinemas,
—   for AMC: cinema exhibition services in the United States and parts of Europe,
—   for the Dalian Wanda Group: three principal business activities — investment and operations of commercial properties, culture and finance. It also provides cinema exhibition services in Australia and in China, and film production and distribution services in China,
—   for the JV: cinema advertising services in Italy;










3.


On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the 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 Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in this 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 M.8431 — OMERS/AIMCo/Vue/Dalian Wanda Group/UCI Italia/JV, 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 ‘Merger Regulation’).

(2)  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.