CELEX: 32015M7789
Language: en
Date: 2015-11-18 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 18/11/2015 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.7789 - THE CARLYLE GROUP / PA CONSULTING) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

|[pic]                             |EUROPEAN COMMISSION                                                                                      |

                                        Brussels, 18.11.2015
                                        C(2015) 8237 final

                                        [pic]

|To the notifying party:                                                |                                                                       |
|                                                                       |                                                                       |

Dear Sirs,

Subject:    Case M.7789 - THE CARLYLE GROUP / PA CONSULTING
         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 23 October 2015, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation
    by which CEP IV Garden S.à..r.l., a special purpose acquisition vehicle controlled by funds managed  by  affiliates  of  the  Carlyle  Group
    ("Carlyle", Luxembourg), acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation control of PA Consulting  Group  Ltd.  ("PA
    Consulting", United Kingdom) by way of purchase of shares.[3]

 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

  – for Carlyle: managing funds that invest globally across four investment  disciplines:  (i)  Corporate  Private  Equity  (buyout  and  growth
    capital); (ii) Real Assets (real estate, infrastructure and energy and renewable resources);  (iii)  Global  Market  Strategies  (structured
    credit, mezzanine, distressed, hedge funds, and middle market debt); and (iv) Solutions (private equity fund of funds program and related co-
    investment and secondary activities).

  – for PA Consulting: providing a wide range of management consultancy services to senior  management  in  different  industries  in  both  the
    public and the private sector. PA has its headquarters in London and offices in the Americas, Europe, the Nordics, the Gulf and wider Middle
    East and North Africa region and Asia Pacific.

 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)
                                        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 362, 31.10.2015, p.17.

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

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                                                                  PUBLIC VERSION

                                                           SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE