Mergers: Commission clears acquisition of Kedrion and BPL by Permira and Sestant

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of the joint control of Kedrion S.P.A (‘Kedrion’) of Italy and Bio Products Laboratory
Holdings Limited (‘BPL’) of the UK, by Permira Holdings Limited (‘Permira’) of Guernsey and Sestant Internazionale S.P.A. (‘Sestant’) of Italy. Permira is a private
equity firm active across multiple sectors. Sestant is a financial holding company overseeing the international assets of the Marcucci family. Kedrion and BPL are both active in the
collection of human plasma and the development, production and sale of therapeutic plasma-derived products. The transaction gives rise to vertical links between the downstream supply of therapeutic
plasma-derived products by Kedrion and BPL, as well as theirs and Permira‘s upstream activities in the supply of plasma, paste, and certain chemicals and services. The Commission
concluded that the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns, given that the vertical links between the companies’ activities are unlikely to allow them to engage in foreclosure
practices. In addition, the Commission found that the transaction does not give rise to horizontal overlaps in the European Economic Area. The transaction was examined under the normal
merger review procedure. More information is available on the Commission’s competition website, in the public
case register under the case
number M.10680.