29.4.2010   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 110/7

1.

On 21 April 2010, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which the undertakings Barclays Bank PLC (‘Barclays’, UK) and Hilton Hotels Corporation (‘Hilton’, UK), which is controlled by the Blackstone Group (‘Blackstone’, USA) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control over a portfolio of 8 European hotels (the Portfolio Hotels), currently jointly controlled by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund VI International-T, L.P. (‘MSRF’, USA) and Hilton, by way of a mixture of share and assets purchase.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

3.

On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the EC 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 the EC Merger Regulation (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in the 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 COMP/M.5874 — Barclays/Blackstone/Portfolio Hotels, to the following address: