29/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - Mergers: TPG-Caixabank/Servihabitat. On 29 October, the European Commission gave the go-ahead to the acquisition of joint control over the real estate business of Servihabitat Gestion Immobiliaria, S.L.U (“Servihabitat”) by TPG Opportunities Partners, L.P., a private equity fund from the United States belonging to the TPG Group, and CaixaBank, S.A., a subsidiary of Caixa d'Estalvis I Pensions de Barcelona (“La Caixa”), one of Spain's biggest financial institutions. Servihabitat is currently a subsidiary of La Caixa, providing real estate and loan servicing. The Commission assessed the effects of the proposed transaction on the markets for real estate and banking activities and concluded that the deal notified on 27 September would not raise competition concerns, in particular because there are only limited overlaps between the parties' activities. The operation was examined under the simplified merger review procedure. (FG/transl.fl)