Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.9652 — Marquard & Bahls/Starwood Capital/GCA) Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance) 2019/C 395/10
Date: 2019-11-22
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: chemical industry, economic concentration, energy industry, investment company, merger control, oil industry, real estate business, storage, supply








C_2019395EN.01001201.xml










22.11.2019   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 395/12






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.9652 — Marquard & Bahls/Starwood Capital/GCA)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2019/C 395/10)

1.   
On 14 November 2019, 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:






—


Marquard & Bahls AG (‘M&B’, Germany),










—


Starwood Energy Group Global, L.L.C. (‘Starwood Energy’, USA), an affiliate of Starwood Capital L.L.C. (‘Starwood’, USA),










—


GCA Holdings LLC (‘GCA’, USA).




M&B and Starwood Energy acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the whole of GCA.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






—


M&B is active in the supply, trading, storage and logistics of energy/petroleum products and chemicals. Its core operating units include tank storage logistics, trading and aviation fueling,










—


Starwood Energy is a private equity investment firm that specializes in energy infrastructure investments,










—


Starwood is a private investment firm with a primary focus on global real estate,










—


GCA is a project company that will build and operate an ammonia production facility in Texas, USA. It is currently jointly controlled by M&B and AMGCA Partners LLC.






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.9652 — Marquard & Bahls/Starwood Capital/GCA
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.