CELEX: 32015M7837
Language: en
Date: 2015-12-22 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 22/12/2015 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.7837 - THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP / THE WELLCOME TRUST) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

|[pic]                             |EUROPEAN COMMISSION                                                                                      |

Brussels, 22.12.2015
C(2015) 9820 final

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|To the notifying parties:                                              |                                                                       |

Dear Sirs,

Subject:    Case M.7837 – THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP / THE WELLCOME TRUST
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 27 November 2015, the European Commission received notification of  a  proposed  concentration  pursuant  to  Article  4  of  the  Merger
    Regulation by which The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (‘Goldman Sachs’, United Kingdom) and  The  Wellcome  Trust  Limited  (‘Wellcome’,  United
    Kingdom) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of JVco (Luxembourg) by way of purchase of shares
    in a newly created company constituting a joint venture.[3]

 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

      – for Goldman Sachs: a range of banking, securities and investment services worldwide to a substantial and  diversified  client  base  that
        includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worth individuals,

      – for Wellcome: Managing an investment portfolio to provide the income for funding its central aim of achieving improvements in  human  and
        animal health

      – for JVco: combining the relevant Goldman Sachs and Wellcome Trust owned student accommodation businesses  in  the  UK,  branded  ‘Prodigy
        Living’ and ‘iQ Students’ respectively.

 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
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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 401, 03.12.2015, p. 6.

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

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                                                                  PUBLIC VERSION

                                                           SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE