1.   

On 18 September 2020, 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:

—	Alva S.p.A., Amca S.r.l., Ipercubo S.r.l., Lefa S.r.l., Mefa S.r.l., 4emme S.r.l., P.M. Investments S.r.l., Cofiva S.A. and Fariniundici S.p.A. (together the ‘Sofima Holdings’, Italy),

—	BC Partners LLP (‘BC Partners’, United Kingdom),

—	Industria Macchine Automatiche S.p.A. (‘IMA’, Italy), controlled by the ‘Sofima Holdings’.

BC Partners and Sofima Holdings acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the whole of IMA.

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.

2.   

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—	for Sofima Holdings: holding activities of IMA, real estate activities; and non-controlling minority stakes in companies for investment purposes,

—	BC Partner is a private equity firm providing investment advisory services,

—	for IMA: development and manufacturing of machinery and equipment for the automated packaging of goods.

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 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.9937 — BC Partners/Sofima/IMA

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