Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.9727 — AccorInvest/Accor/Hotel Portfolio) Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance) 2020/C 35/05
Date: 2020-02-03
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, franchising, hotel industry, investment company, merger control, subsidiary








C_2020035EN.01000601.xml










3.2.2020   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 35/6






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.9727 — AccorInvest/Accor/Hotel Portfolio)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2020/C 35/05)

1.   
On 24 January 2020, 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:






—


AccorInvest S.A. (Luxembourg) (‘AccorInvest’),










—


Accor (France).




AccorInvest and Accor acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the Hotel Portfolio.
The concentration is accomplished by way of public bid announced on 17 December 2019.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






—


for AccorInvest: an investment company active in the business of owning and operating hotel properties and business. AccorInvest currently operates and/or owns 856 hotels located in Europe (France, Monaco, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom), America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru), Africa (Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Senegal) Australia, Japan and Singapore.










—


for Accor: a hotel group which is mainly active in the managing and franchising of hotels. Accor is mainly active in the hotel sector as a hotel manager and franchisor in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, North and Central America and South America.










—


for Hotel Portfolio: a hotel portfolio consisting of 73 hotels properties including luxury, upscale, upper midscale and economy class hotels and business. The Hotel Portfolio is located in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia and provides hotel accommodation services in these countries. It is currently owned by the Polish investment firm Orbis, a subsidiary of Accor.






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.9727 — AccorInvest/Accor/Hotel Portfolio
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.