Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11593 – CLEARLAKE / FRANCISCO PARTNERS / SOFTWARE INTEGRITY GROUP OF SYNOPSYS) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2024-07-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, information security, investment company, merger control, service, software








C_202404532EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/4532


16.7.2024






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11593 – CLEARLAKE / FRANCISCO PARTNERS / SOFTWARE INTEGRITY GROUP OF SYNOPSYS)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2024/4532)


1.   
On 10 July 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:






—


Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (‘Clearlake’, USA),










—


Francisco Partners Management, L.P. (‘Francisco Partners’, USA),










—


The Software Integrity Group of Synopsys, Inc. (‘Target’, USA).




Clearlake and Francisco Partners will acquire, within the meaning of Article 3(1), point (b) of the Merger Regulation, joint control over the Target.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


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






—


Clearlake is a private investment firm, with portfolio companies active in software and technology-enabled services, energy and industrials, and food and consumer products.










—


Francisco Partners is a private equity firm focused on investments in software and technology-enabled businesses.










—


The Target is a business segment of Synopsys, Inc., that offers application security testing software tools and services.






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.11593 – CLEARLAKE / FRANCISCO PARTNERS / SOFTWARE INTEGRITY GROUP OF SYNOPSYS
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/2024/4532/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)