CELEX: 32018M9035
Language: en
Date: 2018-09-13 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 13/09/2018 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.9035 - Charlesbank Capital Partners, LLC / Partners Group AG / H-Food Holdings, LLC) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                                Brussels, 13.9.2018
                                                                C(2018) 6051 final
                                                                        PUBLIC VERSION
                                                                To the notifying parties
Subject:        Case M.9035 — Charlesbank/Partners Group/H-Food Holdings
                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 22 August 2018, the European Commission received notification of a proposed
        concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which the undertakings
        Charlesbank Capital Partners, LLC (‘Charlesbank’, U.S.A.) and Partners Group AG
        (‘Partners Group’, Switzerland) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and
        Article 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control over the whole of the undertaking H-
        Food Holdings, LLC (‘Hearthside’, U.S.A.) by way of purchase of shares.3
2.      The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
             for Charlesbank: a private equity investment firm focusing on management-led
              buyouts and growth capital financing and also engaging in opportunistic credit
              investments. Its portfolio includes companies active in a wide range of sectors such as
              business services and education, consumer, energy, financial services, healthcare,
              industrial services and distribution, technology, media or telecommunications,
             for Partners Group: a global private markets investment management company
              focusing on private equity, private real estate, private infrastructure and private debt.
              Hearthside, which is solely controlled by affiliates of Partners Group, is active as a
              contract food manufacturer for food brands and food companies. Hearthside is also
              active in the field of contract food packaging and contract food packaging equipment.
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 303, 29.8.2018, 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--- 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)
                                                    Johannes LAITENBERGER
                                                    Director-General
4  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.
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