CELEX: 32015M7650
Language: en
Date: 2015-07-07 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 07/07/2015 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.7650 - KATARA HOSPITALITY / STARWOOD HOTEL & RESORTS WORLDWIDE / WESTIN EXCELSIOR HOTEL) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

|[pic]                             |EUROPEAN COMMISSION                                                                                      |

                                        Brussels, 7.7.2015
                                        C(2015) 4780 final

                                        [pic][pic]

|To the notifying parties:                                              |                                                                       |

Dear Sirs,

Subject:    Case M.7650 - KATARA HOSPITALITY / STARWOOD HOTEL & RESORTS WORLDWIDE / WESTIN EXCELSIOR HOTEL
         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 11 June 2015, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by
    which Katara Hospitality ("Katara", Qatar) ultimately controlled by the Qatar Investment Authority ("QIA",  Qatar),  and  Starwood  Hotel  &
    Resorts Worldwide Inc ("Starwood", USA), acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control  of  the  real
    estate property known as Westin Excelsior Hotel of Rome (Italy) and its related business and management by way of  purchase  of  assets  and
    management contract.[3]

 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

|          —       |for Katara: owning, managing and developing hotels globally;                                                             |

|          —      |  for QIA: is the sovereign investment fund of the State of Qatar and                                                     |

|          —     |  for Starwood: owning, franchising and managing hotels worldwide.                                                         |

 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 6 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 204, 20.06.215, p. 19.

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

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                                                                  PUBLIC VERSION

                                                           SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE