Mergers: EU Commission clears acquisition of joint control over Inexio and DGF by EFMS and OMERS

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of joint control by EQT Fund Management (“EFMS”) of Luxembourg and OMERS Infrastructure European Holdings 2 B.V. (“OMERS”) of the Netherlands, controlled by OMERS Administration Corporation of Canada over the whole of (i) inexio Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KGaA and inexio Beteiligungs Geschäftsführungs GmbH and their subsidiaries (“Inexio”), of Germany, solely controlled by EQT Infrastructure IV of Luxembourg and (ii) the Deutsche Glasfaser Group (“DGF”) of Germany, currently controlled by Goethe Acquisition Gmbh of Germany.

Inexio is active in the provision of fixed internet access services, fibre optic network services, cloud technology and hosting solutions for business-to-consumers (“B2C”) and business-to-business (“B2B”) customers in Germany.

DGF is active in the provision of B2C and B2B fixed internet access services in Germany and the provision of internet protocol television. EFMS controls EQT Infrastructure IV through which it engages in investment activities in infrastructure and infrastructure related assets and businesses primarily in Europe and North America.

OMERS is active in the investment and administration of pensions for active, deferred and retired employees of municipalities, school boards, libraries, police departments and other local agencies in Ontario. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, because of the companies’ moderate combined market positions resulting from the proposed transaction.

The transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure. More information is available on the Commission’s competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.9783.

Arianna Podesta – Maria Tsoni –