Commission Decision of 16/11/2012 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.6711 - ADVENT / DOUGLAS HOLDING) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic) |EUROPEAN COMMISSION | Brussels, 16/11/2012 C(2012) 8516 PUBLIC VERSION SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE To the notifying party: Dear Madam(s) and/or Sir(s), Subject: Case No COMP/M.6711-Advent/Douglas Holding Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 [1] 1. On 16 October 2012 the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which the undertaking AI Beauty & Cy S.C.A.
(Luxembourg) belonging to the group Advent International Corporation ("Advent", USA) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation control of the whole of the undertaking Douglas Holding AG ("Douglas", Germany) by public bid announced on 15 October 2012. [2] 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are: - for Advent: a private equity investor with holdings in various sectors including industrial, retail, media, communications, information technology, internet, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, - for Douglas: retail sale of consumer goods, in particular (i) fragrances, cosmetics, and toiletries (Douglas), (ii) books (Thalia), (iii) jewellery and watches (Christ), (iv) fashion (Appelrath-Cüpper), and (v) confectionery (Hussel).
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)i and (c)ii of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004. [3] 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.
For the Commission (signed) Alexander ITALIANER 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] Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 322, 24.10.2012, p. 3. [3] OJ C 56, 5.3.2005, p. 32.