CELEX: 32015M7588
Language: en
Date: 2015-05-21 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 21/05/2015 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.7588 - GRIFFIN / LVS II LUX XX / ECHO) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

|[pic]                             |EUROPEAN COMMISSION                                                                                      |

                                        Brussels, 21.5.2015
                                        C(2015) 3556 Final

                                        [pic]

|To the notifying parties:                                              |

Dear Sirs,

Subject:    Case M.7588 - GRIFFIN / LVS II LUX XX / ECHO
         Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004[1] and Article 57 of the Agreement on the
         European Economic Area[2]

 1. On 14 April 2015, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the  Merger  Regulation
    by which the undertakings Griffin Topco III Sarl ("Griffin",  Luxembourg),  indirectly  solely  controlled  by  Oaktree  Capital  Group  LLC
    ("Oaktree", United States of America), and LVS II Lux XX S.à.r.l. ("LVS II Lux", Luxembourg), a wholly-owned  subsidiary  of  an  investment
    fund managed by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC ("PIMCO", United States of America) acquire within the meaning of Article  3(1)(b)
    and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Echo Investment S.A. ("Echo", Poland), by way of purchase of shares.[3]

 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

  – for Griffin: investment in real estate assets and services mainly in Poland. Griffin belongs to Oaktree, a global investment company;

  – for LVS II Lux: LVS II Lux is fully owned by PIMCO, a global investment company, and was established for the purpose of  investing  in  real
    estate assets and services;

  – for Echo: real estate assets and services.

 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
                                        Alexander ITALIANER
                                        Director-General
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[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 128, 21.04.2015, p. 9.

[4]   OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.

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                                                                  PUBLIC VERSION

                                                           SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE