1.   

On 29 January 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:

—	The Blackstone Group Inc. (‘Blackstone’, United States),

—	B&J Holdings Limited (‘B&J’, Malta),

—	Applegreen plc (‘Applegreen’, Ireland).

Blackstone and B&J acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Applegreen.

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.

2.   

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—	for Blackstone: a global asset management company,

—	for B&J: a holding company, owned by Joseph Barrett and Robert Etchingham and currently Applegreen’s largest shareholder,

—	for Applegreen: a roadside convenience retailer, operating from motorway service areas, trunk road service areas and petrol filling stations, with presence in Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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.10132 — Blackstone/B&J/Applegreen

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