Prior notification of a concentration (Case M. 10504 – EQT/H&F/Zooplus) Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance) 2021/C 473/14
Date: 2021-11-24
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, electronic commerce, investment company, merger control, pet food, pet shop, private investment








C_2021473EN.01003301.xml










24.11.2021   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 473/33






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M. 10504 – EQT/H&F/Zooplus)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2021/C 473/14)

1.   
On 15 November 2021, 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:






—


EQT Fund Management S.à.r.l (‘EQT’, Luxembourg), part of the EQT group ( Sweden),










—


Hellman & Friedman LLC (‘H&F’, United States),










—


Zooplus AG (‘Zooplus’, Germany).




H&F and EQT acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the whole of Zooplus.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






—


For EQT: investment fund part of the EQT group, whose portfolio companies are active globally in a variety of industries and sectors like healthcare, services, consumer goods, energy & environment etc. ,










—


For H&F: private equity investment in a variety of sectors worldwide, including software & technology, financial services, healthcare, consumer & retail and other business services,










—


For Zooplus: e-commerce retailer of pet supplies, with activities in most EU Member States. Zooplus operates a number of localized and cross-national web shops selling pet supplies for dogs, cats, birds, horses, small animals and aquatic. The product range includes, in particular, pet food, as well as pet accessories (such as scratch trees, transport baskets, toys, litter and snacks).






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 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.10504 – EQT/H&F/Zooplus
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.