Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.9109 — OMERS/BCI/AIMCo/PGGM/CPPIB/Puget Holdings) — Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance.)
Date: 2018-09-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, electrical energy, electricity supply, energy distribution, energy production, gas supply, merger control, pension fund








C_2018347EN.01002201.xml










28.9.2018   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 347/22






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.9109 — OMERS/BCI/AIMCo/PGGM/CPPIB/Puget Holdings)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2018/C 347/11)

1.   
On 21 September 2018, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).
This notification concerns the following undertakings:






—


OMERS Administration Corporation (‘OMERS’, Canada),










—


British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (‘BCI’, Canada),










—


Alberta Investment Management Corporation (‘AIMCo’, Canada),










—


PGGM Vermogensbeheer BV (‘PGGM’, The Netherlands), ultimately controlled by PGGM Coöperatie UA (The Netherlands),










—


Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (‘CPPIB’, Canada),










—


Puget Holdings LLC (‘Puget’, USA).




OMERS, BCI, AIMCo, PGGM and CPPIB acquire, within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation, joint control over the whole of Puget.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
—   for OMERS: OMERS acts as the administrator of the OMERS pension plans and the trustee of the pension funds related to the pension plans. It manages a wide array of investments, including in the public equity, fixed income and alternative investment markets of Canada and globally,
—   for BCI: BCI is a large institutional investor, investing in fixed income, mortgages, public and private equity, real estate, infrastructure and renewable resources. BCI is an agent of the Government of British Columbia in Canada,
—   for AIMCo: AIMCo is one of Canada’s largest institutional investment fund managers. AIMCo is an agent of HMQ (the legal personification of the Canadian Province of Alberta),
—   for PGGM: PGGM is subsidiary of PGGM NV, a Dutch pension administrator specialised in the administration of collective pensions. It manages, inter alia, the PGGM Infrastructure Fund,
—   for CPPIB: CPPIB is an investment management organisation that invests the funds transferred to it by the Canada Pension Plan Fund. It principally invests in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income investments,
—   for Puget: Puget conducts substantially all of its operations through Puget Sound Energy which is a regulated utility company providing electric and natural gas services in the state of Washington, United States of America. The primary business involves electricity generation, transmission and distribution, as well as distribution of natural gas.


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 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. The following reference should always be specified:
M.9109 — OMERS/BCI/AIMCo/PGGM/CPPIB/Puget Holdings
Observations can be sent to the Commission by email, by fax, or by post. Please use the contact details below:





Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu




Fax +32 22964301




Postal 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.