CELEX: 32019M9671
Language: en
Date: 2019-12-12 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 12/12/2019 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.9671 - APOLLO / BLUE GROUP) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                                Brussels, 12.12.2019
                                                                C(2019) 9204 final
                                                                                 PUBLIC VERSION
                                                                To the notifying party
Subject:        Case M.9671 – APOLLO / BLUE GROUP
                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 20 November 2019, the European Commission received notification of a proposed
        concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which the
        undertaking Apollo Capital Management, L.P. (‘Apollo’, United States of America)
        acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control
        over the whole of the undertaking Blue Group Hold Co Limited (‘Blue Group’, United
        Kingdom) by way of purchase of shares.3
2.      The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
              for Apollo: investments in companies and debt issued by companies involved
                 in various businesses throughout the world,
              for Blue Group: retail supply of home furniture in the United Kingdom under
                 the brands Harveys Furniture and Bensons for Beds.
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
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 402, 28.11.2019, p. 25.
4       OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.
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--- 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)
                                                  Cecilio MADERO VILLAREJO
                                                  Acting Director-General
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