Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11268 – GENERAL ATLANTIC / L CATTERTON / DOGMATES) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2023-10-02
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: beverage, catering industry, consumer goods, economic concentration, foodstuff, holding company, investment company, merger control, pet food, retail trade








C_202300097EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series C













C/2023/97


2.10.2023






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11268 – GENERAL ATLANTIC / L CATTERTON / DOGMATES)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2023/97)


1.   
On 20 September 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:






—


General Atlantic Service Company, L.P. (‘General Atlantic’, United States),










—


L Catterton Management Limited (‘L Catterton’, United States), and










—


Dogmates Holdings Ltd (‘Dogmates’, United Kingdom), currently controlled by L Catterton and White Star Capital.




General Atlantic and L Catterton will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Dogmates.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


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






—


General Atlantic is an investment holding company that is part of the General Atlantic group of investment funds, a global growth private equity firm, and










—


L Catterton is a consumer-focused private equity company whose portfolio companies operate in the retail and restaurant business, the food and beverage business, consumer service and consumer product businesses.






3.   

The business activities of the undertaking Dogmates are the following: Manufacturing and distribution of fresh dog food on a subscription model with activities in Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland and the United Kingdom.



4.   
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 treatment for certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in the Notice.


5.   
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.11268 – GENERAL ATLANTIC / L CATTERTON / DOGMATES
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 160, 5.5.2023, p. 1.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2023/97/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)