m8532.docx EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 10.7.2017 C(2017) 4991 final T o the notifying party: Subject : Case M.8532 - BLACKSTONE GROUP / SPONDA 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 Dear Sir or Madam, 1. On 15 June 2017 , the European Commission received notification of a proposed conc entration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which the undertaking Blackstone Group L.P. ("Blackstone", USA) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation indirect sole control of Sponda Plc (" Sponda ", Finland) by means of a tender offer .
3 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are: - for Blackstone: global asset manager. It is headquartered in the United States and has offices in Europe and Asia. - for Sponda : a Finnish public real estate investment company that specializes in leasing business premises and developing and owning properties. 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 6 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 (S igned) Johannes LAITENBERGER 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) OJ L 1, 3.1.1994, p. 3 ( the ' EEA Agreement ' ). (3) Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 200 , 23.06. 2017 , p. 28 . (4) OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5 .