CELEX: 32020M9880
Language: en
Date: 2020-07-22 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 22/07/2020 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.9880 - PERMIRA / WARBURG / TILNEY / SMITH & WILLIAMSON) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                                 Brussels, 22.7.2020
                                                                 C(2020) 5126 final
                                                                                 PUBLIC VERSION
                                                                 To the notifying parties
Subject:        Case M.9880 - PERMIRA / WARBURG / TILNEY / SMITH &
                WILLIAMSON
                Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation
                (EC) No 139/20041 and Article 57 of the Agreement on the European
                Economic Area2
Dear Sir or Madam,
1.      On 26 June 2020, the European Commission received notification of a proposed
        concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which the
        undertakings Permira Holdings Limited ("Permira", Guernsey) and Warburg Pincus
        LLC ("Warburg Pincus", USA) acquire within the meaning of Articles 3(1)(b) and
        3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control over the whole of Smith & Williamson
        Holdings Limited (“Smith & Williamson”, United Kingdom) and Tilney Group
        Limited ("Tilney", United Kingdom)(jointly referred to as “the JV”). The
        concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares. 3
2.      The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
              Permira is a private equity business engaged in the provision of investment
                 management services to a number of investment funds;
              Warburg Pincus is a global private equity firm. Warburg Pincus' portfolio
                 companies are active in a variety of sectors, including energy, financial
                 services, healthcare, industrial and business services, technology, media and
                 telecommunications;
              For the JV: Tilney is an independent wealth management firm headquartered
                 in London, with offices throughout the UK. It is primarily active in providing
                 financial planning, investment management, and advisory services to private
1       OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’). With effect from 1 December 2009, the Treaty on
        the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’) has introduced certain changes, such as the
        replacement of ‘Community’ by ‘Union’ and ‘common market’ by ‘internal market’. The terminology
        of the TFEU will be used throughout this decision.
2       OJ L 1, 3.1.1994, p. 3 (the ‘EEA Agreement’).
3       Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 223, 07.07.2020, p. 18.
Commission européenne, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Bruxelles, BELGIQUE
Europese Commissie, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Brussel, BELGIË
Tel: +32 229-91111. Fax: +32 229-64301. E-mail: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu.
 ---pagebreak---            clients; Smith & Williamson is an independent financial and professional
           services firm headquartered in London, with offices throughout the UK and
           Ireland. Smith & Williamson offers, professional, financial and investment
           management services to individuals and businesses.
3. After examination of the notification, the European Commission has concluded that
   the notified operation falls within the scope of the Merger Regulation and of
   paragraph 5(c) of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of
   certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004.4
4. For the reasons set out in the Notice on a simplified procedure, the European
   Commission has decided not to oppose the notified operation and to declare it
   compatible with the internal market and with the EEA Agreement. This decision is
   adopted in application of Article 6(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation and Article 57 of
   the EEA Agreement.
                                                  For the Commission
                                                  (Signed)
                                                  Olivier GUERSENT
                                                  Director-General
4  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.
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