CELEX: 32015M7656
Language: en
Date: 2015-07-06 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 06/07/2015 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.7656 - CD&R GROUP / SCIMITAR TOPCO LIMITED) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

|[pic]                             |EUROPEAN COMMISSION                                                                                      |

                                        Brussels, 6.7.2015
                                        C(2015) 4726 final

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                                        To the notifying party

Dear Sirs,

Subject:    Case M.7656 - CD&R GROUP/ SCIMITAR TOPCO LIMITED
         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 9 June 2015, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation  by
    which the undertaking Clayton, Dubilier & Rice ("CD&R Group", USA) via its investment vehicle Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Fund IX, L.P.  ("CD&R
    Fund IX", Cayman Islands) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Council Regulation sole control of  Scimitar  Topco  Limited
    ("Scimitar", UK), the holding company of the Motor Fuel Group ("MFG", UK), by way of purchase of shares.[3]

 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

    -      CD&R Group is a private equity investment group based in the United-States which originates, structures and frequently acts as a lead
        equity investor in management buyouts, strategic minority equity investments and other strategic investments. It makes  such  investments
        through a number of different funds formed to make investments in companies active in a variety of economic sectors;

    - Scimitar is the holding company of the Motor Fuel Group, an independent petrol and  convenience  retailer  in  the  UK.  Scimitar's  group
        companies are active in the retail supply of road fuels in the UK and, ancillary to this, the supply of groceries from these sites. It is
        also involved, to a limited extent, in the wholesale supply of motor fuels in the UK to a number of independently  owned  petrol  station
        forecourts.

 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 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 199, 16/06/2015, p. 5.

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

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                                                                  PUBLIC VERSION

                                                           SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE