CELEX: 32020M9864
Language: en
Date: 2020-09-03 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 03/09/2020 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.9864 - CPPIB / KKR / AXEL SPRINGER) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                                Brussels, 3.9.2020
                                                                C(2020) 6184 final
                                                                                 PUBLIC VERSION
                                                                To the notifying parties
Subject:        Case M.9864 – CPPIB/KKR/Axel Springer
                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 11 August 2020, the European Commission received notification of a proposed
        concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which Canada
        Pension Plan Investment Board (‘CPPIB’, Canada) and KKR & Co. Inc. (‘KKR’,
        USA) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation
        joint control of Axel Springer SE (‘Axel Springer’, Germany) by way of purchase of
        shares.3
2.      The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
        −     CCPIB: investment of the funds that are not needed by the Canada Pension Plan
              Fund to pay current benefits on behalf of contributors and beneficiaries.
        −     KKR: asset management services and capital market solutions.
        −     Axel Springer: media company active in more than 40 countries, operating
              diverse media brands (e.g., BILD and WELT Group, Insider Inc., Politico.eu) and
              classifieds portals (e.g., StepStone, SeLoger, Immowelt).
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 (the ‘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 273, 18.8.2020, p. 6.
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)
                                                  Olivier GUERSENT
                                                  Director-General
4  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.
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