Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12352 – DIGITALBRIDGE / TCGL / COUNTY BROADBAND / FREEDOM FIBRE / TRUESPEED) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2026-02-26
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: Internet, United Kingdom, economic concentration, holding company, investment company, merger control, rural region, transmission network, urban area








C_202601255EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2026/1255


26.2.2026






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.12352 – DIGITALBRIDGE / TCGL / COUNTY BROADBAND / FREEDOM FIBRE / TRUESPEED)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2026/1255)


1.   
On 18 February 2026, 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’, United States),










—


Truespeed Communications Group Limited (‘TCGL’, United Kingdom), controlled by Aviva Plc, (‘Aviva’, United Kingdom),










—


County Broadband Limited (‘County Broadband’), controlled by Aviva,










—


Freedom Fibre Limited (‘Freedom Fibre’), controlled by DigitalBridge and Equitix Holdings Limited (‘Equitix’, United Kingdom),










—


Truespeed Communications Limited (‘Truespeed’, United Kingdom), controlled by Aviva.




TCGL and DigitalBridge will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of County Broadband, Freedom Fibre and Truespeed.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


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






—


DigitalBridge is a dedicated, global scale digital infrastructure investment firm that invests, directly and through its managed funds and portfolio companies, in five key areas: (i) data centres; (ii) cell towers; (iii) fibre networks; (iv) small cells; and (v) edge infrastructure.










—


TCGL is a holding company of Truespeed and County Broadband. It is solely controlled by Aviva, a UK incorporated company operating in the insurance sector, mainly in the UK, Ireland and Canada.






3.   
The business activities of the undertakings Country Broadband, Freedom Fibre and Truespeed are the following:






—


County Broadband is a fibre-to-the-premises provider (‘FTTP’) which is active in the operation of fibre broadband networks in both urban and rural areas in the UK only.










—


Freedom Fibre is a UK fibre-to-the-premises (‘FTTP’) provider which is active in the operation of fibre broadband networks in both urban and rural areas in the UK only.










—


Truespeed is a FTTP provider which is active in the operation of fibre broadband networks in both urban and rural areas in the UK only.






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 concentration 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.12352 – DIGITALBRIDGE / TCGL / COUNTY BROADBAND / FREEDOM FIBRE / TRUESPEED
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/2026/1255/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)