Bruxelles – The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of Carlson Hotelsof the US by the HNA Group Co. of China. Carlson provides hotel accommodation services worldwide. The HNA Group is a Chinese conglomerate active in various sectors including aviation, real estate and tourism. It also holds a minority shareholding in a global provider of hotel services. The Commission found that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns because of the companies’ limited combined market share in the provision of hotel services. The transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure. More information is available on the Commission’s competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.8126.