1.   

On 4 February 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:

—	Inflexion Private Equity Partners LLP (‘Inflexion’ United Kingdom),

—	Intermediate Capital Group (‘ICG’, United Kingdom),

—	Marston Corporate Limited (‘Marston’, United Kingdom).

Inflexion and ICG acquire within the meaning of Articles 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Marston.

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.

2.   

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—	for Inflexion: private equity firm with a range of investors from large institutions to individuals,

—	for ICG: asset manager, active in the structuring and provision of mezzanine finance, leveraged credit and private equity in Europe, Asia Pacific and the USA,

—	for Marston: transportation and debt enforcement service provider in the United Kingdom.

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.9681 — Inflexion/ICG /Marston

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