CELEX: 32019M9404
Language: en
Date: 2019-07-16 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 16/07/2019 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.9404 - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. / B&B Hotels) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                                 Brussels, 16.7.2019
                                                                 C(2019) 5444 final
                                                                                 PUBLIC VERSION
                                                                 To the notifying party
Subject:        Case M.9404 -GOLDMAN SACHS / B&B HOTELS
                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 17 June 2019, the European Commission received notification of a proposed
        concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which the
        undertaking The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (‘Goldman Sachs,’ USA) acquires within
        the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the whole of
        Financière Sun SAS (‘Financière Sun,’ France) by way of purchase of shares.3
2.      The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
              for Goldman Sachs: a global investment banking, securities and investment
                 management firm;4
              for Financière Sun: operates the B&B Hotels chain. B&B Hotels is a French
                 hotel company headquartered in Brest, France, with a portfolio of 476 hotels in
                 ten EU Member States (Austria, Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy,
                 Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain), and in Switzerland and Brazil.
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
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 212, 24.06.2019, p. 3.
4    One of Goldman Sachs’ former controlled portfolio companies was K+K Hotels, a boutique hotel
     company that operated ten hotels in eight cities in the EU. However, Goldman Sachs sold K+K Hotels on
     18 June 2019.
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---    paragraph 5(b) of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of
   certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004.5
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
5  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.
                                              2