EUROPEAN COMMISSION DG Competition

Case M.9813 - BLACKSTONE / IQSA HOLDINGS

Only the English text is available and authentic.

REGULATION (EC) No 139/2004 MERGER PROCEDURE

Article 6(1)(b) NON-OPPOSITION Date: 29/04/2020

In electronic form on the EUR-Lex website under document number 32020M9813

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 29.04.2020 C(2020) 2904 final

PUBLIC VERSION

To the notifying party

Dear Sir or Madam,

1.1. On 1 April 2020, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which The Blackstone Group Inc. (‘Blackstone’, USA) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation indirect sole control of the whole of IQSA Holdings 3S.à r.l. (‘IQSA Holdings’, United Kingdom) by way of purchase of shares.

2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

- for Blackstone: global asset manager with a portfolio of assets including real estate assets located across the United States, Asia, South America and Europe, including the United Kingdom,

- for IQSA Holdings: owns a portfolio of corporate purpose-built student accommodation (‘Corporate PBSA’) throughout the United Kingdom, which it operates as iQ Student Accommodation. It also owns a private residential development in Sheffield, the Pendulum Hotel located in Manchester and ten development sites it intends to operate as Corporate PBSA schemes.

3.3. After examination of the notification, the European Commission has concluded that the notified operation falls within the scope of the Merger Regulation and of

1OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’). With effect from 1 December 2009, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’) has introduced certain changes, such as the replacement of ‘Community’ by ‘Union’ and ‘common market’ by ‘internal market’. The terminology of the TFEU will be used throughout this decision.

2OJ L 1, 3.1.1994, p. 3 (the ‘EEA Agreement’).

3Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 119, 14.4.2020, p. 11.

Commission européenne, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Bruxelles, BELGIQUE Europese Commissie, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Brussel, BELGIË

Tel: +32 229-91111. Fax: +32 229-64301. E-mail: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu.

paragraph 5(c) of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004.

4. For the reasons set out in the Notice on a simplified procedure, the European Commission has decided not to oppose the notified operation and to declare it compatible with the internal market and with the EEA Agreement. This decision is adopted in application of Article 6(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation and Article 57 of the EEA Agreement.

For the Commission

(Signed) Olivier GUERSENT Director-General

4OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.

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