Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11322 – PSP FUND VI / BCI / DRISCOLLS / COSTA) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2023-12-08
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, fresh fruit, fresh vegetable, fruit-growing, investment company, market gardening, merger control, plant variety right, public sector, soft fruit








C_202301455EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series C













C/2023/1455


8.12.2023






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11322 – PSP FUND VI / BCI / DRISCOLLS / COSTA)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2023/1455)


1.   
On 29 November 2023, 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:






—


Paine Schwartz Food Chain Fund VI GP, L.P. (‘PSP’, United States of America),










—


British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (together with its subsidiaries, ‘BCI’, Canada),










—


Driscoll’s, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, ‘Driscoll’s’, United States of America), and










—


Costa Group Holdings Limited (together with its subsidiaries, ‘Costa’, Australia).




PSP, BCI and Driscoll’s will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the whole of Costa.
The concentration is accomplished by way of a public bid announced on 22 September 2023.


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






—


PSP is a private equity firm which manages investments on behalf of global financial institutions and investors with a focus on the food and agribusiness industries,










—


BCI is an agent of the Government of British Columbia Canada, investing on behalf of public sector clients in fixed income, public equities, private equity, infrastructure, renewable resources, real estate and commercial mortgages,










—


Driscoll’s develops and patents proprietary berry varieties (including strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries), which it licenses to an international group of independent berry growers. Driscoll’s then markets and distributes the berries to customers, primarily under the Driscoll’s branded label,










—


Costa is a grower, packer, and marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables, operating across berries, mushrooms, glasshouse tomatoes, citrus, and avocados; active globally and listed on the Australian stock exchange.






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 treatment for certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (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.11322 – PSP FUND VI / BCI / DRISCOLLS / COSTA
Observations can be sent to the Commission by email or by post. Please use the contact details below:
Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu
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 160, 5.5.2023, p. 1.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2023/1455/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)