26.10.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 394/7

1.

On 19 October 2016, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which the undertaking AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (United States of America) belonging to the Dalian Wanda Group (People’s Republic of China) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation control of the whole of Odeon and UCI Cinemas (United Kingdom) by way of purchase of shares.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—   for AMC: AMC is active in cinema exhibition services in the United States of America and the United Kingdom. It operates 386 cinemas, the majority of which are located in the USA and only 1 of which is located in Europe. It also has interests in cinema screen advertising and film distribution activities in the USA, though does not itself engage in these businesses directly,

—   for Odeon and UCI Cinemas: Odeon and UCI Cinemas operates 242 cinemas under the Odeon, UCI, UCI Kinowelt and Cinesa brands in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany and Austria. Odeon also has a number of joint ventures in areas ancillary to film exhibition services, including a cinema screen advertising company and a film distribution joint venture both based in the United Kingdom and an online ticket sales platform in Germany. Odeon has a limited interest in cinema exhibition services in China.

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 M.8177 — AMC UK/Odeon and UCI Cinemas, to the following address: