23.4.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 144/20

1.

On 15 April 2016, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which Starwood Capital Group (‘SCG’ of USA) and Hotel Investment Partnership, S.L. (‘HIP’ of Spain) controlled by Banco de Sabadell, S.A. (‘BS’ of Spain) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and Article 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of HI Partners Starwood Capital Holdco Value Added, S.L. (HPSC JV of Spain) by way of purchase of shares in a newly created company constituting a joint venture.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—   for SCG: investing with a core focus on global real estate. SCG invests in a number of asset classes — including multifamily, office, retail, hotel, industrial, residential and commercial land, senior housing, mixed-use and golf, and in all levels of the capital structure,

—   for BS: offering banking services to both the retail and business banking markets and, via HIP, operating hotels and offering real estate services.

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. Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in this Notice.

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 email to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post, under reference number M.7992 — Starwood Capital Group/Banco Sabadell/JV, to the following address: