CELEX: 32020M10035
Language: en
Date: 2020-12-21 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 21/12/2020 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.10035 - BURNAM PARTIES / KROENKE PARTIES / SMG / CASCADE INVESTMENT / STORAGEMART) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                                Brussels, 21.12.2020
                                                                C(2020) 9562 final
                                                                                 PUBLIC VERSION
                                                                To the notifying parties
Subject:        Case M. 10035 – BURNAM PARTIES / KROENKE PARTIES / SMG /
                CASCADE INVESTMENT / STORAGEMART
                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
                                    2
                Economic Area
Dear Sir or Madam,
1.      On 27 November 2020, the European Commission received notification of a proposed
        concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which StorageMart
        Partners, LLC and its affiliates (‘the Burnam Parties’, USA), E.Stanley Kroenke and
        affiliated entities (‘the Kroenke Parties’, USA), SMG StorCo, LLC (‘SMG’, USA)
        indirectly controlled by GIC Realty (Singapore), and Cascade Investment L.L.C.
        (‘Cascade Investment’, USA) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4)
        of the Merger Regulation joint control of the whole of SMARTCo Properties, L.P.
        (‘StorageMart’, USA) by way of purchase of shares (‘the Transaction’).3
2.      The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
             for the Burnam Parties: comprise StorageMart Partners, L.L.C, and its affiliates.
              The Burnam Parties are primarily active in the USA in the self-storage industry
              and own a controlling interest in StorageMart pre-Transaction,
             for the Kroenke Parties: comprise entities affiliated with E. Stanley Kroenke, a
              private individual residing in the USA who controls an international portfolio of
              investments, primarily active in the sport and real estate sectors. The Kroenke
              Parties are primarily active in the USA and own a controlling interest in
              StorageMart pre-Transaction,
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 419, 4.12.2020, p. 49.
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---        for SMG: a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of GIC Realty, a company which
        makes real estate investments on behalf of the Government of Singapore,
       for Cascade Investment: a private investment entity with a global investment
        portfolio which is primarily active in North America. It is a limited liability
        company whose sole member is William H. Gates III,
       for StorageMart: a chain of self-storage facilities operating across the United
        States, Canada and the United Kingdom. StorageMart has 220 facilities
        worldwide, including 16 facilities located in the United Kingdom.
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) 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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