Prior notification of a concentration (Case M. 11472 – HYDRO / NORTHVOLT / HYDROVOLT JV) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2024-05-17
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: aluminium, economic concentration, electric vehicle, electricity storage device, electronic waste, merger control, metal waste, mining of ore, plastic waste, waste recycling








C_202403230EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/3230


17.5.2024






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M. 11472 – HYDRO / NORTHVOLT / HYDROVOLT JV)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2024/3230)


1.   
On 7 May 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:






—


Hydro Energi Invest AS (‘Hydro Energi Invest’, Norway), controlled by Norsk Hydro ASA (‘Hydro’, Norway),










—


Northvolt Revolt AB (‘Revolt’, Sweden), belonging to Northvolt AB (‘Northvolt’, Sweden) which is ultimately jointly controlled by Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (United States), Vargas Holding AB (Sweden), ROCARMA Consulting AB (Sweden), and Quantum Leap AB (Sweden).




Hydro Energi Invest and Revolt acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Hydro Volt AS (‘Hydrovolt’, Norway).
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares in a company constituting a joint venture.


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






—


Hydro Energi Invest is ultimately controlled by Hydro which is active throughout the aluminium value chain, including the mining, refining, extrusion and recycling of aluminium,










—


Revolt belongs to Northvolt which is active in the manufacturing of battery cells, battery cells components, and battery systems as well as in the processing of black mass to extract valuable materials.






3.   

Hydrovolt is active in the recycling of end-of-life vehicle batteries, which includes the recovery of copper, plastics, aluminium, and of black mass, which contains nickel, manganese, cobalt and lithium.



4.   
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 treatment for certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in the Notice.


5.   
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.11472 – HYDRO / NORTHVOLT / HYDROVOLT 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/2024/3230/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)