CELEX: 32020M9884
Language: en
Date: 2020-07-23 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 23/07/2020 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.9884 - THOMA BRAVO / MADISON DEARBORN PARTNERS / AXIOM) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                                Brussels, 23.7.2020
                                                                C(2020) 5186 final
                                                                                 PUBLIC VERSION
                                                                To the notifying parties
Subject:        Case M.9884 -THOMA BRAVO / MADISON DEARBORN PARTNERS /
                AXIOM
                Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation
                                       1
                (EC) No 139/2004 and Article 57 of the Agreement on the European
                                    2
                Economic Area
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 Thoma Bravo
        LLC (“Thoma Bravo”, USA) and Madison Dearborn Partners (“MDP”, USA) acquire
        within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and Article 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint
        control over the whole of the undertaking Axiom Software Business of Kaufman, Hall
        & Associates ("Axiom", USA) by way of purchase of shares.3
2.      The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
             for Thoma Bravo: private equity investment firm providing equity and strategic
              support.
             for MDP: private equity investment firm, with focus in basic industries; business
              & government software and services; financial and transaction services; health
              care; and telecom, media and technology services.
             for Axiom: the provision of a cloud-based, comprehensive EPM solution that
              includes budgeting, forecasting, reporting, analytics, strategy management,
              consolidations, capital planning, profitability modeling and cost management.
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 219, 3.7.2020, p. 17.
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--- 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(a) 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.
                                              2