EUROPEAN COMMISSION DG Competition

Only the English text is available and authentic.

REGULATION (EC) No 139/2004 MERGER PROCEDURE

Article 6(1)(b) NON-OPPOSITION Date: 12/10/2023

In electronic form on the EUR-Lex website under document number 32023M11278

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 12.10.2023 C(2023) 6974 final

PUBLIC VERSION

TDR Capital LLP 20 Bentinck Street London W1U 2EU United Kingdom

Ring International Holding AG Alserbachstraße 14-16 Palais Liechtenstein 1090 Vienna Austria

Dear Sir or Madam,

1.On 19 September 2023, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation, by which TDR Capital LLP (‘TDR Capital’, UK) and Ring International Holding AG (‘Ring International’, Austria), will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control over the whole of PLK Venture UK Ltd (‘Popeyes UK’, UK), controlled by Ring International, by way of purchase of shares.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are the following:

-− TDR Capital is a private equity firm that invests in a variety of sectors, including in investment and asset management, energy services, education, gyms, health clubs, pubs and restaurants in the UK, Europe and the US,

-− Ring International is a family holding company primarily active in Europe and the UAE that invests in a variety of sectors, mainly in the production and distribution of stationary products (such as binders), metal products for industrial proposes (bellows, flexible metal hoses), as well as fast-food chains,

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 340, 27.9.2023, p. 94.

3.Popeyes UK is a chain of quick-service restaurants at 29 locations across the UK, serving mainly fried chicken meals. These restaurants are franchised from Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc., an American multinational chain of fried chicken fast food restaurants.

4.After examination of the notification, the European Commission has concluded that the notified operation falls within the scope of the Merger Regulation and of paragraph 5(a) of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004.

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 160, 5.5.2023, p. 1–10.

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