11.8.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 264/25

1.

On 4 August 2017, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which the undertakings BNP Paribas Group (‘BNPP’, France) and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, LLC (‘Starwood’, United States), belonging to Marriott International, Inc. (‘Marriott’, United States), acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of two hotels in Italy (the ‘Hotel Portfolio’), by way of purchase of shares and pre-existing hotel management agreements.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—   for BNPP: banking group with domestic and international operations. Its two core businesses are: (i) Retail Banking & Services, and (ii) Corporate & Institutional Banking,

—   for Starwood: wholly-owned subsidiary of Marriott. Marriott is a diversified hospitality company which acts as a manager and franchisor of some 6 080 hotels and timeshare properties worldwide,

—   for the Hotel Portfolio: two hotels located in Italy (the Westin Palace in Milan and the Westin Europa & Regina in Venice) currently indirectly managed by Marriott.

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 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.8598 — BNPP/Starwood/Hotel Portfolio, to the following address: