Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11608 – BROOKFIELD / CASTLELAKE AGGREGATOR / CASTLELAKE) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2024-07-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: air transport, economic concentration, energy transition, hire purchase, insurance, investment company, merger control, real property, renewable energy








C_202404527EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/4527


16.7.2024






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11608 – BROOKFIELD / CASTLELAKE AGGREGATOR / CASTLELAKE)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2024/4527)


1.   
On 9 July 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:






—


Brookfield CL Holdings LLC (‘CL Holdings’, Canada), indirectly controlled by Brookfield Corporation (‘Brookfield’, Canada),










—


Castlelake Management Aggregator, LLC (‘Castlelake Aggregator’, USA),










—


Castlelake Group GP, LLC. (‘Castlelake’, USA).




Brookfield and Castlelake Aggregator will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the whole of Castlelake.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares and contractual means.


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






—


Brookfield is a global asset manager headquartered in Toronto, Canada, that offers a range of public and private investment products and services, with a focus on renewable power and transition, infrastructure, private equity, real estate and insurance,










—


Castlelake Aggregator is a US-based newly formed entity, which was set up for the purposes of the Transaction and is controlled by Castlelake’s current management,










—


Castlelake is a US-based, global alternative investment firm, which specialises in discovering and pursuing asset-rich and cash-flowing opportunities in the specialty finance, real assets and aviation private markets.






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.11608 – BROOKFIELD / CASTLELAKE AGGREGATOR / CASTLELAKE
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/2024/4527/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)