Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.9750 — HIG Capital/Lagardère Sports and Entertainment SAS/Lagardère Sports Inc.) Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance) 2020/C 62/07
Date: 2020-02-25
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: advertising, economic concentration, investment company, merger control, programmes industry, sponsorship, sport








C_2020062EN.01000801.xml










25.2.2020   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 62/8






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.9750 — HIG Capital/Lagardère Sports and Entertainment SAS/Lagardère Sports Inc.)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2020/C 62/07)

1.   
On 14 February 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:






—


H.I.G. European Capital Partners II, L.P. (Cayman Islands), belonging to the H.I.G. Capital group of funds (‘H.I.G. Capital’, United States of America),










—


Lagardère Sports and Entertainment SAS (‘LSE’, France) and Lagardère Sports, Inc. (‘LS’, United States of America) together with their direct and indirect subsidiaries (but excluding a few subsidiaries), together (the ‘Target’ or ‘Lagardère Sports’), belonging to the Lagardère SCA group.




H.I.G. Capital acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation control of parts of LSE and LS.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






—


for H.I.G. Capital: private equity investment firm,










—


for Lagardère Sports: a global sports agency offering specialised services (rights distribution, host broadcasting, media and programme production, event operations, brand development, marketing and sponsorship) and holding a portfolio of sports media and marketing rights. Lagardère Sports has a specific focus on football.






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.9750 — HIG Capital/Lagardère Sports and Entertainment SAS/Lagardère Sports Inc.
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.