CELEX: 32020M9612
Language: en
Date: 2020-01-23 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 23/01/2020 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.9612 - CENTRAL GROUP / SIGNA PRIME / MAHIS JV) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                                Brussels, 23.1.2020
                                                                C(2020) 452 final
                                                                                 PUBLIC VERSION
                                                                To the notifying parties
Subject:        Case M.9612 – CENTRAL GROUP / SIGNA PRIME / MAHIS JV
                Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation
                                       1
                (EC) No 139/2004 and Article 57 of the Agreement on the European
                                    2
                Economic Area
Dear Sir or Madam,
1.      On 19 December 2019, the European Commission received notification of a proposed
        concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which Harng Central
        Department Store Ltd (“Central Group”, Thailand) and SIGNA Prime Selection AG
        (“SIGNA Prime”, Austria), acquire within the meaning of Articles 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of
        the Merger Regulation joint control over the whole of Mariahilfer Straße 10-18
        Beteiligung S.à .r.l (“Mahis JV”, Luxembourg) by way of purchase of shares.3
2.      The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
         for Central Group: merchandising, real estate, retailing, hospitality and restaurants
             primarily in Southeast Asia including Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. In the EU,
             Central Group is active in the retail sector in Italy, Germany and to lesser extent in
             Denmark. In particular, it operates premium department stores in Berlin, Hamburg
             and Munich (through The KaDeWe Group).
         for SIGNA Prime: purchase, development, rental, lease and management of retail
             and office real estate primarily in Germany and Austria. SIGNA Prime also holds
             the majority of shares in real estate companies that own certain department store
             properties of the department store chain GALERIA Karstadt Kaufhof in Germany.
         for Mahis JV: indirectly holds the real estate property at Mariahilfer Straße 10-18,
             Vienna, which is currently occupied, in particular, by a furniture store.
1       OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’). With effect from 1 December 2009, the Treaty on
        the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’) has introduced certain changes, such as the
        replacement of ‘Community’ by ‘Union’ and ‘common market’ by ‘internal market’. The terminology
        of the TFEU will be used throughout this decision.
2       OJ L 1, 3.1.1994, p. 3 (the ‘EEA Agreement’).
3       Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 4, 08.01.2020, p. 11.
Commission européenne, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Bruxelles, BELGIQUE
Europese Commissie, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Brussel, BELGIË
Tel: +32 229-91111. Fax: +32 229-64301. E-mail: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu.
 ---pagebreak--- 3. After examination of the notification, the European Commission has concluded that
   the notified operation falls within the scope of the Merger Regulation and of
   paragraph 5(c) of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of
   certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004.4
4. For the reasons set out in the Notice on a simplified procedure, the European
   Commission has decided not to oppose the notified operation and to declare it
   compatible with the internal market and with the EEA Agreement. This decision is
   adopted in application of Article 6(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation and Article 57 of
   the EEA Agreement.
                                                  For the Commission
                                                  (Signed)
                                                  Olivier GUERSENT
                                                  Director-General
4  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.
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