Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11601 – KIWA / ADESSO / JV) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2024-07-10
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: Germany, Internet site, approval, computer system, consultancy, data processing, economic concentration, information technology industry, merger control, quality control of industrial products, testing








C_202404512EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/4512


10.7.2024






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11601 – KIWA / ADESSO / JV)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2024/4512)


1.   
On 1 July 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:






—


Kiwa Deutschland GmbH (‘Kiwa’, Germany), controlled by SHV Holdings N.V. (the Netherlands),










—


adesso SE (‘adesso’, Germany),










—


Kevla GmbH (‘Kevla’, Germany).




Kiwa and adesso will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Kevla.
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:






—


Kiwa is a company specializing in testing, inspecting and certifying products according to specified certification standards and is active in Europe, Asia, Africa and the US,










—


adesso provides a range of services for the integration of electronic back offices. In addition to vendor-independent consulting, these services include the planning, design, support and implementation of IT projects. It is active in Europe, Asia, Africa and the US.






3.   

The business activities of the undertaking Kevla will be the following: Kevla has no operating business prior to the acquisition by Kiwa and adesso. The newly created joint venture will be the operator of a multi-sided digital platform to automate the exchange of compliance documents between companies regardless of their industry sector. Initially, the focus of the activities will be Germany but it may also offer services in other countries.



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.11601 – KIWA / ADESSO / 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/2024/4512/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)