Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10042 — Vista Equity Partners/Francisco Partners Management/SmartBear Software) Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance) 2020/C 415/13
Date: 2020-12-01
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, information technology industry, investment company, merger control, technology








C_2020415EN.01003301.xml










1.12.2020   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 415/33






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.10042 — Vista Equity Partners/Francisco Partners Management/SmartBear Software)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2020/C 415/13)

1.   
On 24 November 2020, 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:






—


Vista Equity Partners Management, LLC (‘Vista’, USA),










—


Francisco Partners Management LP (‘Francisco Partners’, USA),










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SmartBear Software, Inc. (‘SmartBear’, USA), controlled by Francisco Partners.




Vista and Francisco Partners acquire within the meaning of Articles 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of SmartBear. The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






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for Vista: investment firm focused on empowering and growing enterprise software, data and technology-enabled businesses. Vista controls a number of portfolio companies that are active in the provision of IT services such as the provision of business software,










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for Francisco Partners: private equity firm exclusively focused on investments in technology and technology-enabled businesses. Francisco Partners currently exercises sole control over SmartBear,










—


for SmartBear: active in the provision of software solutions focused on application testing, monitoring, and development. SmartBear provides tools across the entire software development lifecycle, including tools for test automation, API lifecycle, collaboration, performance testing, and test management.






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 (2) 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.10042 — Vista Equity Partners/Francisco Partners Management/SmartBear Software
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)  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.