Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10879 – WISHCARD / EMZ PARTNERS / IK INVESTMENT / OAKLEY CAPITAL) Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance) 2022/C 349/05
Date: 2022-09-12
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: consumer goods, economic concentration, education, food industry, gift item, health care, investment company, merger control, provision of services, technology








C_2022349EN.01000701.xml










12.9.2022   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 349/7






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.10879 – WISHCARD / EMZ PARTNERS / IK INVESTMENT / OAKLEY CAPITAL)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2022/C 349/05)

1.   
On 1 September 2022, 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:






—


EMZ Partners SAS (‘EMZ’, France), via Saulire S.à r.l.










—


IK Investment Partners S.à.r.l. (‘IK’, Luxembourg), via IK PF II Luxco 3 S.à r.l.;










—


Oakley Capital (‘Oakley’, Germany), via Wishcard CoInvestCo S.à r.l.;










—


Mr. Valentin Schütt (Mr. Schütt, Austria) through his wholly owned special purpose vehicle company Nexec Holding GmbH;










—


Wishcard Technologies Group GmbH (‘Wishcard’, Germany).




EMZ, IK, Oakley and Mr. Schütt will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Wishcard.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are the following:






—


EMZ is a private equity firm with a focus on long-term investments in medium-sized companies in various sectors.










—


IK is a private equity firm that invests in a wide range of sectors with a focus on business services, food and consumer products, industrials and healthcare.










—


Oakley is a private equity firm that invests in mid-market companies across three core sectors, consumer, education and technology.










—


Mr. Valentin Schütt is a natural person and founder of Wishcard.










—


Wishcard is through its subsidiaries a provider of two-step gift vouchers and B2B gift cards.






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 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:
Case M.10879 – WISHCARD / EMZ PARTNERS / IK INVESTMENT / OAKLEY CAPITAL
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.