Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11556 - SCHRODERS / PHOENIX GROUP / FUTURE GROWTH CAPITAL) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2024-08-20
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: United Kingdom, economic concentration, investment, investment company, joint venture, merger control, multinational enterprise, pension scheme








C_202405170EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/5170


20.8.2024






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11556 - SCHRODERS / PHOENIX GROUP / FUTURE GROWTH CAPITAL)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2024/5170)


1.   
On 8 August 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:






—


Schroders plc (‘Schroders’, United Kingdom), through its holding company, Schroder International Holdings Limited (UK),










—


Phoenix Group Holdings plc (‘Phoenix’, United Kingdom),










—


Future Growth Capital Limited (‘Griffin’, United Kingdom), a newly created joint venture.




Schroders and Phoenix will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Griffin.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares in a newly created company constituting a joint venture.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned and the newly set-up joint venture are the following:






—


Schroders is a multinational asset and wealth management company focusing on the management of public and private asset classes for its retail and institutional customers,










—


Phoenix is active in the long-term savings and retirement business, pension consolidation, as well as life insurance trusted pensions,










—


Griffin is a greenfield joint venture set up for the purposes of managing certain private asset investment solutions for institutional clients, including pension schemes, focused on the United Kingdom.






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.11556 - SCHRODERS / PHOENIX GROUP / FUTURE GROWTH CAPITAL
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/2024/5170/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)