Disclaimer :

The Competition DG makes the information provided by the notifying parties in section 1.2 of Form CO available to the public in order to increase transparency. This information has been prepared by the notifying parties under their sole responsibility, and its content in no way prejudges the view the Commission may take of the planned operation. Nor can the Commission be held responsible for any incorrect or misleading information contained therein.

SECTION 1.2

Description of the concentration

On 29 November 2022, the European Commission received notification of the proposed acquisition of indirect joint control by an entity ultimately controlled by funds managed by Providence Equity Partners, LLC (“Providence”), headquartered in the U.S., and the Five Arrows Principal Investments IV funds (“FAPI IV”) (which are managed by various investment managers ultimately controlled by Rothschild & Co), headquartered in France, over Financière Hary SAS and its subsidiaries (“A2Mac1”) (by means of a share acquisition), headquartered in France. A2Mac1 is currently solely controlled by funds managed by investment managers ultimately controlled by Rothschild & Co.

The business activities of the Parties are as follows:

Providence is a private equity firm specialising in investing in the media, communications, education, software and information services industries.

Five Arrows is the European corporate private equity business of Rothschild & Co’s merchant banking business, which is part of the Rothschild & Co group. Based in London, Paris and Luxembourg, its investment professionals manage EUR 2.8 billion of capital focused on investing in middle-market companies in Western Europe.

Rothschild & Co is a limited partnership with share capital (société en commandite par actions) under French law, founded in 1838. The business of the Rothschild & Co group, i.e. Rothschild & Co and the entities it controls, is organized around three main areas of activity: (i) the “financial advisory” division, which includes advisory services in mergers and acquisitions, financing and debt restructuring and capital markets transactions; (ii) the “private banking and asset management” division, which focuses on the preservation, growth and transfer of private and institutional clients’ wealth and assets; (iii) the “private equity and private debt” division, which offers products to private and institutional investors wishing to invest in the private equity markets; and (iv) institutional investors wishing to invest in the private equity and private debt markets.

Rothschild & Co SCA, the ultimate parent company of the group, has its headquarters in France.

A2Mac1 is a B2B database company providing engineering and technical benchmarking services, mostly to the automotive industry. A2Mac1 marginally serves clients in other industries.

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.