Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11796 – AUSTRALIANSUPER / DIGITALBRIDGE / SWISS LIFE / DBUPH) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2024-11-08
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: computer centre, data processing, digital technology, economic concentration, financial services, investment company, life assurance, merger control, pension scheme, transmission network








C_202406797EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/6797


8.11.2024






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11796 – AUSTRALIANSUPER / DIGITALBRIDGE / SWISS LIFE / DBUPH)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2024/6797)


1.   
On 30 October 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:






—


AustralianSuper Pty Ltd (‘AustralianSuper’, Australia),










—


DigitalBridge Group, Inc. (‘DigitalBridge’, United States),










—


Swiss Life Holding AG (‘Swiss Life’, Switzerland),










—


DataBridge Upper Parent Holdings IV, LP (‘DBUPH’, United States), currently jointly controlled by DigitalBridge and Swiss Life.




AustralianSuper, DigitalBridge and Swiss Life will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of DBUPH.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


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






—


AustralianSuper is an industry public offer superannuation and pension fund with investments in Australia and other countries globally,










—


DigitalBridge is a dedicated, global-scale digital infrastructure investment firm that invests in five key areas: (i) data centres; (ii) cell towers; (iii) fiber networks; (iv) small cells; and (v) edge infrastructure,










—


Swiss Life is a provider of life, pensions and financial solutions. It is active in the life insurance, the investment and asset management sectors, and provides multinational corporations with employee benefit solutions,










—


DBUPH is a provider of colocation, interconnection and managed services. It owns and operates a portfolio of data centres focused on the United States.






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.11796 – AUSTRALIANSUPER / DIGITALBRIDGE / SWISS LIFE / DBUPH
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/2024/6797/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)