Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10883 – BLACKSTONE / RIVEAN / ESDEC SOLAR GROUP) Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance) 2022/C 370/02
Date: 2022-09-28
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: distributor, economic concentration, investment company, merger control, solar architecture, solar collector, solar energy end-use applications, supplier








C_2022370EN.01000201.xml










28.9.2022   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 370/2






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.10883 – BLACKSTONE / RIVEAN / ESDEC SOLAR GROUP)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2022/C 370/02)

1.   
On 15 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:






—


Blackstone Inc. (‘Blackstone’) (United States of America),










—


Rivean Capital B.V. (‘Rivean’) (The Netherlands),










—


Esdec Solar Group B.V. (‘Esdec’) (The Netherlands), currently solely controlled by Rivean.




Blackstone and Rivean will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Esdec.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


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






—


Blackstone is a global alternative asset manager headquartered in the United States.










—


Rivean is a European private equity investor, investing principally in medium-sized companies active in various sectors in Europe, in particular in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland.










—


Esdec is a supplier and distributor of professional solar panel mounting systems primarily for residential and commercial roofs, sold to wholesalers, EPC distributors, or directly to installers. Esdec is currently solely controlled by Rivean.






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:
M.10883 – BLACKSTONE / RIVEAN / ESDEC SOLAR GROUP
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.