EUROPEAN COMMISSION DG Competition

Only the English text is available and authentic.

REGULATION (EC) No 139/2004 MERGER PROCEDURE

Article 6(1)(b) NON-OPPOSITION Date: 13/03/2024

In electronic form on the EUR-Lex website under document number 32024M11487

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 13.3.2024 C(2024) 1773 final

PUBLIC VERSION

DigitalBridge Group, Inc. 590 Madison Avenue, 34th Floor 10022 New York, New York United States of America

Equitix Holdings Limited 200 Aldersgate Street London, EC1A 4HD United Kingdom

Dear Sir or Madam,

1.(1) On 20 February 2024, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation, by which the undertakings DigitalBridge Group, Inc. (“DigitalBridge”, USA), and Equitix Holdings Limited (“Equitix”, UK), will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the undertakings Freedom Fibre Limited (“Freedom Fibre”, UK), currently controlled by Equitix; VX Fiber Limited (“VX Fiber”, UK), currently controlled by DigitalBridge, and LilaConnect Limited (“LilaConnect”, UK), currently controlled by DigitalBridge; by way of purchase of 3 shares. ()

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() OJ C, C/2024/1809, 28.2.2024.

Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË – Tel. +32 22991111

(2) The business activities of the undertakings concerned and the Target JVs are the following:

– DigitalBridge is an investment firm that invests, directly or through its managed funds and portfolio companies, in five key areas: (i) data centres; (ii) cell towers; (iii) fibre networks; (iv) small cells; and (v) edge infrastructure,

– Equitix is an investor, developer and long-term fund manager of core infrastructure and energy-efficiency assets,

– The Target JV, Freedom Fibre, is a UK fibre-to-the-premises ("FTTP") provider which is active in the roll-out of fibre broadband networks in both urban and rural areas in the UK only,

– The Target JV, VX Fiber, constructs, deploys, operates and owns both passive and active FTTP networks in the UK only, and

– The Target JV, LilaConnect, is an internet service provider ("ISP") in the UK only.

4.(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 treatment for certain 4 concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004. ( )

(4) For the reasons set out in the Notice on a simplified treatment, 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 160, 5.5.2023, p. 1 (the ‘Notice on a simplified treatment’).

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