European Union: Issued Commission Ruling in investigation into the acquisition of joint control of group.ONE and dogado by Cinven and OTPP

On 21 February 2023, the European Commission approved the proposed acquisition of joint control of the group.ONE and dogado by Cinven and OTPP, following an investigation into its potential impact on competition in the European Economic Area. The Group.ONE provides web hosting services, including shared domain and registration. The company Dogado offers web hosting and platform marketing services and infrastructure, applications and website creation services. Cinven is an investment management company, and OTPP administers a pension fund. The Commission found that the acquisition does not violate the Merger Regulation and paragraph 5(c) of the Commission Notice under Council Regulation No. 139/2004 due to the "limited horizontal overlap" and lack of vertical relationships between the services provided by the companies.