Commission Decision of 31/07/2013 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.6972 - BC PARTNERS / SPRINGER SCIENCE + BUSINESS MEDIA) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic) |EUROPEAN COMMISSION | Brussels, 31/07/2013 C(2013) 5123 final PUBLIC VERSION SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE To the notifying party: | | Dear Madam(s) and/or Sir(s), Subject: Case No COMP/M.6972 – BC PARTNERS/ SPRINGER SCIENCE + BUSINESS MEDIA Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 [1] 1. On 03.07.2013, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which the undertaking BC European Capital IX (“BC Fund”, UK) acting by its general partner CIE Management IX Limited ("CIE IX", UK) and ultimately controlled by BC Partners Holdings Limited ("BC Partners Holdings", UK) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control over the undertaking Springer Science + Business Media AG (“SSBM”, Germany), by way of purchase of shares.
2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are: - BC Partners Holdings acts as holding company of BC private equity funds; - SSBM is active in the market for publishing of academic and professional books and journals in scientific, technical and medical fields.] [2] . 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 [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 197, 10.07.2013, p.16 and 9 (HR) [3] OJ C 56, 5.3.2005, p. 32.