(Finance) – The European Commission ha approvedpursuant to the EU Merger Regulation, theacquisition of joint control of the Italian HU Holding by the US private equity giant Apollo Global Management and the Italian Clessidra Private Equity SGR and Human Company. The transaction mainly concerns the hospitality sector.
The Commission concluded that the notified transaction would not raise competition concernsgiven the limited market positions of the companies resulting from the proposed transaction. The notified transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure.
Human Company, a Florentine group active in the hospitality and restaurant sectors and leader in Italy in open air tourism, was founded in the 1980s as ECV Group from the entrepreneurial spirit of the Cardini Vannucchi, a Tuscan family originally active in the textile sector in Prato. Thanks to an activity of acquisitions and investments, the group is now a leader in Italy in the outdoor accommodation sector. Over the years Human Company has diversified its business, combining the hospitality sector with the catering sector participating, among others, in the development of Central Market format. Launched in 2014 in Florence in the historic San Lorenzo market and then replicated in Rome at Termini station, in Turin inside the Palatine Center at Porta Palazzo, from September 2021 also inside Milan Central Station.