22.8.2015   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 278/7

1.

On 12 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 funds managed by Advent International Corporation (‘Advent International’, USA) and funds managed by Bain Capital Investors, LLC. (‘Bain Capital’, USA) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and Article 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control over Istituto Centrale delle Banche Popolari Italiane SpA (‘ICBPI’, Italy) by way of purchase of shares.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—   for Advent International: a private equity investor active in various sectors, including industrial, retail, media, communications, information technology, internet, healthcare and pharmaceuticals,

—   for Bain Capital: private equity investment firm that invests in companies across most industries, including information technology, healthcare, retail and consumer products, communications, financial and industrial/manufacturing,

—   for ICBPI: banking group active in Italy in the provision of payment card issuing, merchant acquiring, terminal management, payment services, securities services, and regulatory/compliance management services.

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. 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 Case M.7711 — Advent International/Bain Capital/ICBPI, to the following address: