Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11487 – DIGITALBRIDGE / EQUITIX / FREEDOM FIBRE / VX FIBER / LILACONNECT) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2024-02-28
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: Internet, United Kingdom, economic concentration, energy efficiency, information technology industry, investment company, merger control, provision of services, transmission network








C_202401809EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series C













C/2024/1809


28.2.2024






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11487 – DIGITALBRIDGE / EQUITIX / FREEDOM FIBRE / VX FIBER / LILACONNECT)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2024/1809)


1.   
On 20 February 2024, 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:






—


DigitalBridge Group, Inc. (‘DigitalBridge’, USA),










—


Equitix Holdings Limited (‘Equitix’, UK),










—


Freedom Fibre Limited (‘Freedom Fibre’, UK), currently controlled by Equitix,










—


VX Fiber Limited (‘VX Fiber’, UK), currently controlled by DigitalBridge, and










—


LilaConnect Limited (‘LilaConnect’, UK), currently controlled by DigitalBridge.




DigitalBridge and Equitix will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Freedom Fibre, VX Fiber and LilaConnect.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


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






—


DigitalBridge is an investment firm that invests, directly or through its managed funds and portfolio companies, in five key areas: (i) data centres; (ii) cell towers; (iii) fiber networks; (iv) small cells; and (v) edge infrastructure,










—


Equitix is an investor, developer and long-term fund manager of core infrastructure and energy-efficiency assets,










—


Freedom Fibre is a UK FTTP provider which is active in the roll-out of fibre broadband networks in both urban and rural areas in the UK only,










—


VX Fiber constructs, deploys, operates and owns both passive and active fibre-to-the-premises (‘FTTP’) networks in the UK only,










—


LilaConnect is an internet service provider (‘ISP’) in the UK only.






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 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.


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.11487 – DIGITALBRIDGE / EQUITIX / FREEDOM FIBRE / VX FIBER / LILACONNECT
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/2024/1809/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)