Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11026 – PARTNERS GROUP / GHO / STERLING PHARMA) Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance) 2023/C 60/17
Date: 2023-02-17
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, health care, investment, investment company, merger control, pharmaceutical industry, private limited company








C_2023060EN.01003001.xml










17.2.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 60/30






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11026 – PARTNERS GROUP / GHO / STERLING PHARMA)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2023/C 60/17)

1.   
On 6 February 2023, 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:






—


Partners Group Holding AG (‘Partners Group’, Switzerland),










—


GHO Capital Management Limited (‘GHO’, Cayman Islands),










—


Sterling Pharma Solutions Limited (‘Sterling Pharma’, United Kingdom), controlled by GHO.




Partners Group and GHO will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Sterling Pharma.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are the following:






—


GHO is a private limited liability company managing a number of GHO private equity funds. GHO is headquartered in London and has approximately EUR 5 billion of assets under its management, specialised in investing in global healthcare,










—


Partners Group is a global private markets investment management company incorporated under Swiss law and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Partners Group has more than USD 131 billion assets under its management in the areas of private equity, private real estate, private infrastructure and private debt,










—


Sterling Pharma provides contract development and manufacturing organisation (‘CDMO’) services in relation to active pharmaceutical ingredients (‘APIs’) for small-molecule pharmaceuticals and antibody drug conjugates (‘ADCs’).






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.11026 – PARTNERS GROUP / GHO / STERLING PHARMA
Observations can be sent to the Commission by email or by post. Please use the contact details below:
Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu
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.