Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.9633 — Astorg/Nordic Capital/Novo/ERT) Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance) 2020/C 1/04
Date: 2020-01-03
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, investment company, medical research, merger control, research and development, scientific research, software








C_2020001EN.01000401.xml










3.1.2020   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 1/4






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.9633 — Astorg/Nordic Capital/Novo/ERT)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2020/C 1/04)

1.   
On 18 December 2019, 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:






—


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),










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Nordic Capital IX Limited (‘Nordic Capital’, Jersey, Channel Islands),










—


Novo Holdings A/S (‘Novo’, Denmark), and










—


eResearchTechnology (‘ERT’, United States), currently solely controlled by Nordic Capital.




Astorg, (through A7 Invest BidCo), Nordic Capital and Novo acquire within the meaning of Articles 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the whole of ERT (2).
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






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for Astorg: private equity group,










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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.






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 (3) 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.9633 — Astorg/Nordic Capital/Novo/ERT
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







(1)  OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’).

(2)  The current management of ERT will own less than 1 % of the share capital.

(3)  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.