Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: EC approves acquisition of joint control over Data4 Group by Colony and AXA, (Oct 8, 2015)

By Linda O’Brien, J.D., LL.M.

The European Commission (EC) has cleared under the European Union (EU) merger regulation the proposed acquisition of joint control over the Data4 Group of Luxembourg by Colony Capital Inc. of the United States and AXA REIM SA of France, the EC announced today.

Data4 Group owns, develops, and operates data centers and, in addition, offers network services, customized cloud solutions, consulting, training, and support services. Colony provides real estate services and manages investments. The AXA group is active in the field of life, health and other insurance, as well as investment management. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would not raise competition concerns, in particular because the Data4 Group's activities and those of Colony and the AXA group do not overlap.

SoftwareONE-KKR merger. The EC also announced that it has approved under the EU merger regulation the acquisition of acquisition of SoftwareONE of Switzerland by KKR & Co. L.P. of the United States. KKR is a global investment firm. SoftwareONE is a software licensing company. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, because of the limited overlaps between the parties' activities.

PartnerRe -Exor merger. Additionally, the acquisition of PartnerRe Ltd. of Bermuda by Exor S.p.A of Italy has been approved by the EC under the EU merger regulation. ParnterRe is active globally in the reinsurance and, to a limited extent, in the specialty insurance business. Exor is an investment company having a portfolio of companies active in various sectors including the provision of marine cargo and marine hull insurance. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, given the companies' limited combined market share resulting from the transaction.

All of the above transactions were examined under the simplified merger review procedure.

Companies: Data 4 Group; Colony Capital Inc.; AXA REIM SA; SoftwareONE; KKR & Co. L.P.; PartnerRe Ltd.; Exor S.p.A.

News: AcquisitionsMergers Antitrust