Latest News
In accordance with Article 13 of Law No. 104-12 on freedom of prices and competition and Article 10 of Decree No. 2-14-652 adopted for its implementation, as amended and supplemented, the Competition Council makes available to the public the ‘operation summary’ below, containing the information provided by the parties.
This information has been prepared by the notifying parties, who are solely responsible. Any inaccurate or distorted information contained therein does not in any way prejudge the Competition Council’s position on the proposed operation.
The publication of this press release does not attest to the completeness of the file provided for in Article 9 of Decree No. 2-14-652 adopted for the implementation of Law No. 104-12 on freedom of prices and competition, as amended and supplemented.
Names of the companies and groups concerned:
- The acquirer: The company ‘Pacioli UK Midco Limited’;
- The historical shareholders: the individual statutory auditors named ‘Certified GT Germany Partners’.
- The target: The company ‘Grant Thornton AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft’.
Nature of the operation
- Joint control acquisition.
Economic sectors concerned:
- Audit, certification, and tax advisory services market;
- Management consulting and other business consulting activities market.
Deadline for interested third parties to submit their observations:
- 10 days from the date of publication of this press release, i.e., November 24, 2025.
NON-CONFIDENTIAL SUMMARY OF THE OPERATION PROVIDED BY THE PARTIES
The Competition Council received notification of an economic concentration project concerning the joint control acquisition by the company ‘Pacioli UK Midco Limited’, ultimately owned by the Eighth Cinven Fund (‘Cinven VIII’) of the company Grant Thornton AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft (‘GT AG’) with its Group alongside the historical shareholders ‘Certified GT Germany Partners’.
‘Pacioli UK Midco Limited’ is a company incorporated and registered in England and Wales under registration number 16080981, with its registered office at 21 St. James’s Square, London, United Kingdom, SW1Y 4JZ. ‘Pacioli UK Midco Limited’ is ultimately controlled by the Eighth Cinven Fund (‘Cinven VIII’), which is managed and indirectly controlled by Cinven Limited (‘Cinven Limited’).
‘Cinven Limited’ and ‘Cinven VIII’ are part of Cinven, [1] a private equity group specializing in providing management and investment advisory services to several investment funds. Companies in the Cinven-controlled portfolio are active in various sectors, including business services, consumer, financial services, healthcare, industry, as well as technology, media, and telecommunications.
Grant Thornton AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft (‘GT AG’) is a company incorporated in Germany, registered under HRB 62734, with its registered office at Johannstraße 39, 40476 Düsseldorf, Germany. It is engaged in auditing, consulting, and professional services. Although it is a member of the Grant Thornton network and authorized to use the name Grant Thornton, ‘GT AG’ and its subsidiaries are independent legal entities. The Target Group provides its clients with the following professional services: audit, certification, consulting, tax services, tax consulting, digitalization consulting (in various areas such as technology consulting, IT auditing, tax technology, cybersecurity, etc.), as well as sustainability and ESG services.
‘Certified GT Germany Partners’ are individuals practicing as statutory auditors or certified tax advisors in Germany.
Done in Rabat on November 13, 2025
[1] “Cinven” refers, depending on the context, individually or collectively, to Cinven Holdings Guernsey Limited, Cinven Partnership LLP and their respective ‘associates’ (as defined in the Companies Act 2006 of the United Kingdom) and/or the funds managed or advised by any of the aforementioned entities, as constituted for the purposes of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on concentrations. Cinven has no country of incorporation, as it is not a legal entity.
