Prior notification of a concentration

(Case M.10751 – CVC FUNDS / LFP / MEDIACO)

Candidate case for simplified procedure

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2022/C 236/08)

On 10 June 2022, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).

This notification concerns the following undertakings:

—	CVC Capital Partners SICAV-FIS SA (‘CVC Funds’, Luxembourg),

—	Ligue de Football Professionnel (‘LFP’, France),

—	Filiale LFP 1 (‘MediaCo’, France).

CVC Funds and LFP will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of MediaCo. The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares in a newly created company constituting a joint venture.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are the following:

—	CVC Funds: a network of private equity and investment advisory firms holding interests in a number of companies in various industries primarily in Europe, the US and the Asia-Pacific region,

—	LFP: French sports association consisting of the 45 French professional football clubs, responsible under French law for the organisation, management, regulation, promotion and commercialization of the two professional men’s football leagues in France,

—	MediaCo: a newly created joint venture established for the purpose of marketing and managing the exploitation of certain commercial French professional football rights, including football broadcasting rights, sponsorship and advertising rights and betting data rights.

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 the Notice.

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. The following reference should always be specified:

M.10751 – CVC FUNDS / LFP / MEDIACO

Observations can be sent to the Commission by email, by fax, or by post. Please use the contact details below:

Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu

Fax +32 22964301

Postal address:

European Commission

Directorate-General for Competition

Merger Registry

1049 Bruxelles/Brussel

BELGIQUE/BELGIË

(1) OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’).

(2) OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.