CELEX: 32019M9422
Language: en
Date: 2019-07-23 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 23/07/2019 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.9422 - Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. / Ares Management Corporation / Press Ganey Associates, Inc.) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                                Brussels, 23.7.2019
                                                                C(2019) 5613 final
                                                                                      PUBLIC VERSION
                                                                To the notifying parties
Subject:        Case M.9422 - LEONARD GREEN & PARTNERS / ARES MANAGEMENT
                CORPORATION / PRESS GANEY ASSOCIATES
                Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC)
                                1                                                                             2
                No 139/2004 and Article 57 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area
Dear Sir or Madam,
1.      On 28 June 2019, the European Commission received notification of a proposed
        concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which Leonard Green &
        Partners, L.P. (“LGP”, USA) and Ares Management Corporation (“Ares”, USA) acquire
        within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the whole
        of Press Ganey Associates, Inc. (“Press Ganey”, USA) by way of purchase of shares.3
2.      The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
             for LGP: private equity investment firm primarily investing in companies providing
              services, including consumer, business and healthcare services, as well as retail,
              distribution and industrials.
             for Ares: alternative asset manager holding interests in the credit, private equity, and
              real estate markets.
             for Press Ganey: provision of patient experience measurement, performance analytics
              and strategic advisory solutions for health care organizations across the continuum of
              care, mainly in the USA.
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(b) of
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 225, 5.07.2019, p. 31.
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---    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)
                                                   Johannes LAITENBERGER
                                                   Director-General
4  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.
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