Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10422 – WMG/BlackRock Group/Influence Media/The Initial Fund) Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance) 2021/C 512/05
Date: 2021-12-20
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: audiovisual industry, copyright, culture industry, economic concentration, investment company, merger control, music








C_2021512EN.01000501.xml










20.12.2021   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 512/5






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.10422 – WMG/BlackRock Group/Influence Media/The Initial Fund)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2021/C 512/05)

1.   
On 9 December 2021, 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:






—


Warner Music Inc. (U.S.A.), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group Corp. and its consolidated subsidiaries (together, ‘WMG’, U.S.A.), solely controlled by Access Industries LLC and its affiliates (‘Access’, U.S.A.),










—


BlackRock Financial Management, Inc. (‘BFM’, U.S.A.), belonging to the BlackRock Group (U.S.A.),










—


IMP GP, LLC (‘Influence Media’, U.S.A.), and










—


Influence x Music Fund II, L.P. (‘The Initial Fund’, Cayman Islands), jointly controlled by Influence Media and by BFM.




WMG, Influence Media, and BFM acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of The Initial Fund. The concentration is accomplished by way of the granting of control rights over the Initial Fund pursuant to a number of contracts (together ‘the Transaction Documents’).


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






—


for Warner Music Inc.: a global music entertainment company with operations or distributors/licensees in almost all EEA Member States and activities in the recorded music and music publishing businesses,










—


for BFM: a corporation which offers portfolio construction, asset management and investment advisory services. BFM controls and manages investment decisions of certain limited partners of the Initial Fund,










—


for Influence Media: adviser of investment funds formed to invest capital by third parties in the acquisition of music royalty rights, primarily publishing copyrights and/or master recordings, and further strategically manages the portfolios of such investment funds, and










—


for The Initial Fund: partnership with the purpose to invest in music assets, specifically recording rights and music publishing rights.






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.10422 — WMG/BlackRock Group/Influence Media/The Initial Fund
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.