Commission européenne, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Bruxelles, BELGIQUE  
Europese Commissie, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Brussel,   BELGIË  
 
Tel: +32 229- 91111. Fax: +32 229 -64301. E -mail: COMP -MERGER -REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu.  
  EUROPEAN COMMISSION  
Brussels,  23.1.2020  
C(2020)  456 final  
PUBLIC VERSION 
To the notifying par ties 
Subject : Case M. 9633 – ASTORG / NORDIC CAPITAL / NOVO / ERT  
Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation 
(EC) No  139/20041 and Article 57 of the Agreement on the European 
Economic Area2  
Dear Sir or Madam,  
1. On 18 December 2019, the European Commission received notification of a proposed 
concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger  Regulation by which  A7 Invest 
BidCo Limited (“A7 Invest BidCo”), controlled by Astorg VII SLP, a fund managed 
by Astorg Asset Management S.à.r.l, (“ Astorg”, Luxembourg) , Nordic Capital IX 
Limited (“Nordic Cap ital”, Jersey, Channel Islands) and Novo Holdings A/S (“Novo”, 
Denmark)  acquire within the meaning of Article s 3(1)(b) and and 3(4) of the Merger 
Regulation joint control over the whole of eResearchTechnology (“ERT”, United 
States), currently solely controlled by Nordic Capital, by way of purchase of shares .3 
2. The business  activities of the undertakings concerned are:  
− for Astorg: private equity group,  
− for Nordic Capital: private equity funds investing across a broad array of 
industries including healthcare, tech & payments, financial services, industrial & 
business services  and consumer products , 
− for Novo: responsible for managing the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation 
through strategic investments in the life sciences and related areas and through 
minority investments of a financial and venture capital nature in a broad portfolio 
of companies dedicated to medical and scientific research , 
− for ERT: provider of software -enabled clinical research solutions.  
                                                 
1 OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 ( the ‘Merger Regulation ’). With effect from 1 December 2009,  the Treaty on 
the Functioning of the European Union ( ‘TFEU ’) has introduced certain changes, such as the 
replacement of ‘Communi ty’ by ‘Union’  and ‘common market ’ by ‘internal market ’. The terminology 
of the TFEU will be used throughout this decision.  
2  OJ L 1, 3.1.1994, p.  3 (the ‘EEA Agreement ’). 
3  Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 1 , 03.01.2020, p. 4. 

2 3. After examination of the notification, the European Commission has concluded that 
the notified operation falls within th e scope of the Merger  Regulation and of 
paragraph 5(c) of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of 
certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No  139/2004.4 
4. For the reasons set out in the Notice on a simplified procedure, t he European 
Commission has decided not to oppose the notified operation and to declare it 
compatible with the internal market and with the EEA Agreement. This decision is 
adopted in application of Article 6(1)(b) of the Merger  Regulation  and Article 57 of 
the EEA Agreement . 
 
For the Commission 
 
 
(Signed)  
Olivier GUERSENT  
Director -General  
                                                 
4  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.