BRIEF—Commission clears acquisition of Sobi by Advent International

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of sole control of Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (Sobi) of Sweden by Advent International Corporation of the USA.

Sobi is an originator pharmaceutical company focussing on the treatment of rare diseases.

Advent International is a private equity investor with investments in, among others, the healthcare sector.

The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, given the companies' limited market position in all the markets where their activities overlap either horizontally or vertically.

The transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure.

Last month, Sobi recommended acceptance of the Advent offer, which values the issued share capital of Sobi at around 69.4 billion kronor (~$8.0 billion).