CELEX: 32021M10116
Language: en
Date: 2021-02-17 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 17/02/2021 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.10116 - ION / NN / bpfBOUW / IRP JV) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                                 Brussels, 17.2.2021
                                                                 C(2021) 1171 final
                                                                                 PUBLIC VERSION
                                                                 ION Holding BV
                                                                 Vredestraat 53
                                                                 8790 – Waregem
                                                                 Belgium
                                                                 REI Investment Belgium I B.V.
                                                                 Prinses Beatrixlaan 35
                                                                 2595AK – The Hague
                                                                 The Netherlands
                                                                 Stichting Bedrijfstakpensioenfonds
                                                                 voor de Bouwnijverheid
                                                                 Basisweg 10
                                                                 1043AP – Amsterdam
                                                                 The Netherlands
Subject:        Case M.10116 - ION / NN / bpfBOUW / IRP 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
                Economic Area2
Dear Sir or Madam,
1.      On 25 January 2021, the European Commission received notification of a proposed
        concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which ION Holding
        BV (“ION”, Belgium), REI Investment Belgium I BV (“NN”, Netherlands), and
        Stichting      Bedrijfstakpensioenfonds          voor     de     Bouwnijverheid     (“bpfBOUW”,
        Netherlands) intend to acquire within the meaning of Articles 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the
        Merger Regulation joint control of ION Residential Platform NV (“IRP JV”, Belgium)
        by way of purchase of shares (the “notified operation”).3
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 (the ‘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 36, 2.2.2021, p. 20.
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--- 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
        for ION: residential (such as apartments and houses, student and senior
           housing) and commercial (such as mixed urban projects, office buildings and
           retail space) real estate developer in Belgium;
        for NN: provision of pension and insurance products, as well as asset
           management and banking services;
        for bfpBOUW: Dutch pension fund established by organisations of employers
           and employees in the construction sector;
        for IRP JV: specialised real estate investment fund aimed to build a sustainable
           long-term residential real estate portfolio (“buy-and-hold”-strategy) in selected
           urban areas in Belgium.
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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