Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11390 – RHEINMETALL / KNDS / UAB LITHUANIA DEFENSE SERVICES JV) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2024-02-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: Baltic States, Poland, after-sales service, arms industry, economic concentration, merger control, military equipment, military research, provision of services








C_202401612EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series C













C/2024/1612


16.2.2024






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11390 – RHEINMETALL / KNDS / UAB LITHUANIA DEFENSE SERVICES JV)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2024/1612)


1.   
On 8 February 2024, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).
This notification concerns the following undertakings:






—


Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH (‘RLS’, Germany), controlled by Rheinmetall AG (‘Rheinmetall’),










—


Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG (‘KMW’, Germany), controlled by KNDS N.V. (‘KNDS’, the Netherlands),










—


UAB Lithuania Defense Services (‘LDS’), jointly controlled by RLS and KMW.




RLS and KMW will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of LDS.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares in a newly created company constituting a joint venture.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are the following:






—


RLS is active in the development, manufacture, repair, sales and order and service handling of military tracked and wheeled vehicles, tower systems and NBC reconnaissance systems. RLS is wholly-owned by Rheinmetall, which is active in the manufacturing and supply of defence equipment and automotive components.










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KMW is active in the development, manufacture and support of a product portfolio ranging from highly protected wheeled vehicles through anti-aircraft and artillery systems to main battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and bridgelaying systems. KMW is part of KNDS, a Franco-German association in the land defence sector.










—


LDS is active in the provision of after-sales services for military tracked and wheeled vehicles mainly in the Baltics and Poland.






3.   
On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved.
Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in the Notice.


4.   
The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.
Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. The following reference should always be specified:
M.11390 – RHEINMETALL / KNDS / UAB LITHUANIA DEFENSE SERVICES JV
Observations can be sent to the Commission by email or by post. Please use the contact details below:
Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu
Postal address:





European Commission




Directorate-General for Competition




Merger Registry




1049 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË







(1)  
            OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’).

(2)  
            OJ C 160, 5.5.2023, p. 1.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/1612/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)