Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11385 – PERMIRA / BLACKSTONE / ADEVINTA) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2024-02-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: Internet, advertising, economic concentration, investment, investment company, merger control, provision of services








C_202401627EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series C













C/2024/1627


16.2.2024






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11385 – PERMIRA / BLACKSTONE / ADEVINTA)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2024/1627)


1.   
On 25 January 2024, 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:






—


Permira Holdings Limited (‘Permira’, Guernesey),










—


Blackstone Inc. (‘Blackstone’, United States), controlled by Blackstone Group Management L.L.C. itself solely controlled by Mr. Stephen A. Schwarzman,










—


Adevinta ASA (‘Adevinta’, Norway).




Permira and Blackstone will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the whole of Adevinta.
The concentration is accomplished by way of public bid announced on 21 November 2023 and by way of purchase of shares.


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






—


Permira is a private equity business engaged in the provision of investment management services to investment funds. Permira controls several portfolio companies that are active across the consumer, services, healthcare and technology sectors.










—


Blackstone is a global asset manager.






3.   

The business activities of the undertaking Adevinta are the following: global, pure-play online classifieds company active in several jurisdictions across the EU as well as Canada and Brazil.



4.   
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.


5.   
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.11385 – PERMIRA / BLACKSTONE / ADEVINTA
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/2024/1627/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)