1.   

On 18 August 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:

—	KKR & Co. Inc. (‘KKR’, US),

—	Waves UK Divestco Limited (‘Waves’, UK), controlled by Coty Inc.

KKR acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the whole of Waves.

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.

2.   

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—	for KKR: global investment firm offering investing in a broad range of alternative asset funds and other investment products to investors and providing capital markets solutions for the firm, its portfolio companies and other clients,

—	for Waves: developing, marketing, manufacturing and distributing professional and retail hair products and nail products.

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.9895 – KKR/Waves UK Divestco

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