CELEX: 32020M9633
Language: en
Date: 2020-01-23 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 23/01/2020 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.9633 - ASTORG / NORDIC CAPITAL / NOVO / ERT) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                                Brussels, 23.1.2020
                                                                C(2020) 456 final
                                                                                 PUBLIC VERSION
                                                                To the notifying parties
Subject:        Case M.9633 – ASTORG / NORDIC CAPITAL / NOVO / ERT
                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 18 December 2019, the European Commission received notification of a proposed
        concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which A7 Invest
        BidCo Limited (“A7 Invest BidCo”), controlled by Astorg VII SLP, a fund managed
        by Astorg Asset Management S.à.r.l, (“Astorg”, Luxembourg), Nordic Capital IX
        Limited (“Nordic Capital”, Jersey, Channel Islands) and Novo Holdings A/S (“Novo”,
        Denmark) acquire within the meaning of Articles 3(1)(b) and and 3(4) of the Merger
        Regulation joint control over the whole of eResearchTechnology (“ERT”, United
        States), currently solely controlled by Nordic Capital, by way of purchase of shares. 3
2.      The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:
        −     for Astorg: private equity group,
        −     for Nordic Capital: private equity funds investing across a broad array of
              industries including healthcare, tech & payments, financial services, industrial &
              business services and consumer products,
        −     for Novo: responsible for managing the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation
              through strategic investments in the life sciences and related areas and through
              minority investments of a financial and venture capital nature in a broad portfolio
              of companies dedicated to medical and scientific research,
        −     for ERT: provider of software-enabled clinical research solutions.
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 1, 03.01.2020, p. 4.
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(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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