28.8.2015   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 283/2

1.

On 21 August 2015, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which Fosun International Limited (‘Fosun’, China) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation, sole control of BHF Kleinwort Benson Group SA (‘BHF-KB’, Belgium) by way of a contested bid.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—   for Fosun: private equity investor, active in insurance and banking, in the industrial sector (pharmaceuticals, healthcare, steel and mining), as well as in investment and asset management, mainly in China,

—   for BHF-KB: parent company of a financial services group, active in wealth management, asset management, private and corporate banking in the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Germany.

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 the 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.

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.7735 — Fosun/BHF-KB, to the following address: