CELEX: 32015M7812
Language: en
Date: 2015-12-02 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 02/12/2015 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.7812 - SWISS RE LIFE CAPITAL / GUARDIAN HOLDINGS EUROPE) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

|[pic]                             |EUROPEAN COMMISSION                                                                                      |

                                        Brussels, 2.12.2015
                                        C(2015) 8771 final

                                        [pic]

|To the notifying party:                                                |

Dear Sirs,

Subject:    Case M.7812 - SWISS RE LIFE CAPITAL / GUARDIAN HOLDINGS EUROPE
         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 6 November 2015, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation
    by which Swiss Re Life Capital Ltd (“SRLC”, Switzerland), part of the Swiss Re Group (“Swiss Re”, Switzerland), acquires within the  meaning
    of Article 3(1)(b) of the  Merger Regulation sole control of  Guardian  Holdings  Europe  Limited  (“GHEL”,  Jersey),  holding  company  for
    operations trading under the name Guardian Financial Services (“Guardian”, the UK).[3]

 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

  – Swiss Re: global wholesale provider of reinsurance, insurance and other insurance-based forms of risk transfer for both  life  and  non-life
    products.
  – for SRLC: holding company.
        – for GHEL: holding company.
        – for Guardian: owner and manager of life assurance businesses in the UK and Ireland.

 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
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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 376, 13.11.2015, p. 23.

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

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                                                                  PUBLIC VERSION

                                                           SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE