23.3.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 108/17

1.

On 16 March 2016, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which the investment fund EQT VII, controlled by EQT Services (UK) Limited (‘EQT’ of United Kingdom), acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the whole undertaking Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd (‘Kuoni’ of Switzerland), by way of a public bid.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—   for EQT: investment fund. EQT’s portfolio companies are active in a number of industries and one of its funds controls the hotel chain Scandic Hotel Groups, which is primarily active in Northern Europe.

—   for Kuoni: service provider to the global travel industry and governments.

3.

On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved.

4.

The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.

Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. Observations can be sent to the Commission by fax (+32 22964301), by e-mail to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post, under reference number M.7968 — EQT Services UK/Kuoni Travel Holding, to the following address: