Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.9612 — Central Group/SIGNA Prime/Mahis JV) Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance) 2020/C 4/07
Date: 2020-01-08
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: catering industry, economic concentration, hotel industry, merger control, real estate business, retail trade, sales promotion








C_2020004EN.01001101.xml










8.1.2020   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 4/11






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.9612 — Central Group/SIGNA Prime/Mahis JV)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2020/C 4/07)

1.   
On 19 December 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:






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Harng Central Department Store Ltd (‘Central’, Thailand),










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SIGNA Prime Selection AG (‘SIGNA Prime’, Austria),










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Mariahilfer Straße 10-18 Beteiligung S.a.r.l (‘Mahis JV’, Luxembourg).




Central and SIGNA Prime acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Mahis JV.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






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for Central: active worldwide in merchandising, real estate, retailing, hospitality and restaurants primarily in Southeast Asia including Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. In the EU, Central is active in the retail sector in Italy, Germany and to lesser extent in Denmark. In particular, it operates premium department stores in Berlin, Hamburg and Munich (through The KaDeWe Group),










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for SIGNA Prime: belongs to the business unit SIGNA Real Estate, which owns real estate properties in city centre locations primarily in Austria and Germany. The business unit SIGNA Retail is active in retail trade and operates, in particular, the department store chain GALERIA Karstadt Kaufhof in Germany. Both the business unit SIGNA Real Estate and the business unit SIGNA Retail are controlled by SIGNA Holding GmbH, which in turn, is ultimately controlled by Familie Benko Privatstiftung,










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for Mahis JV: indirectly holds the real estate property at Mariahilfer Straße 10-18, Vienna, which is currently occupied, in particular, by a furniture store.






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.9612 — Central Group/SIGNA Prime/Mahis JV
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.