1.   

On 1 September 2020, 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:

—	PPF Group N.V. (‘PPF’, the Netherlands), ultimately controlled by Mr Petr Kellner,

—	Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. (‘CME’, Bermuda), ultimately controlled by AT&T Inc.

PPF acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the whole of CME.

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.

2.   

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—	PPF: multinational finance and investment group focusing on financial services, consumer finance, telecommunications, biotechnology, retail services, real estate and agriculture,

—	CME: media and entertainment company, which, through its subsidiaries, is active in TV broadcasting and other media sectors, primarily in Bulgaria, Czechia, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.

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.

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. The following reference should always be specified:

M.9669 – PPF Group/Central European Media Enterprises

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