CELEX: 32017M8427
Language: en
Date: 2017-05-10 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 10/05/2017 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.8427 - KKR / TELEFONICA / TELXIUS) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

|[pic]                             |EUROPEAN COMMISSION                                                                                      |

Brussels,10.5.2017
C(2017) 3227 final

|PUBLIC VERSION                                   |

                               To the notifying parties

Subject:    Case M.8427 – KKR / TELEFONICA / TELXIUS
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]

Dear Sir or Madam,

 1. On 3 April 2017, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by
    which the undertakings KKR & Co. L.P. (‘KKR’, USA) and Telefónica, SA (‘Telefónica’, Spain) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of
    the Merger Regulation joint control of Telxius Telecom, SA (‘Telxius’, Spain) by way of a purchase of shares.[3]

 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

      – KKR is a global investment firm which offers a broad range of  alternative  asset  management  services  to  public  and  private  market
        investors and provides capital markets solutions for the firm, its portfolio companies and clients;

      – Telefónica is a global telecommunications operator and mobile network provider, operating under a number of brands,  including  Movistar,
        O2 and Vivo, representing mobile, landline, internet and television telecommunication services;

      – Telxius owns a group of telecom infrastructure assets, including telecommunications towers  and  subterranean  cables  through  which  it
        provides infrastructure services.

 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
-----------------------
[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 111, 8 April 2017, p.15.
[4]   OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.