1.   

On 3 September 2021, 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:

—	H.I.G. Capital, LLC (‘H.I.G. Capital’, US),

—	Cesar di Barbarossa Enio e F.lli S.r.l. (‘Cesar’, Italy),

—	Gruppo SDA S.r.l. Servizi Distribuzione Associati (‘SDA’, Italy),

—	VDM Vaccaro Distribuzione Merci S.r.l. (‘VDM’, Italy).

H.I.G. Capital acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the whole of Cesar, SDA and VDM.

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.

2.   

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—	H.I.G. Capital: global private equity and alternative assets investment firm; it provides both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies.

—	Cesar: retail sale of a wide range of health, beauty and other daily consumer mass products in Italy.

—	SDA: retail sale of a wide range of health, beauty and other daily consumer mass products in Italy.

—	VDM: retail sale of a wide range of health, beauty and other daily consumer mass products in Italy.

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 the 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. The following reference should always be specified:

M.10392 — H.I.G. Capital/Cesar/SDA/VDM

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