Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11661 – IK / NEXTSTAGE / EUROBIO SCIENTIFIC / JV) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2024-08-14
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: consultancy, economic concentration, innovation, investment, investment company, life sciences, marketing, merger control, research and development








C_202405052EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/5052


14.8.2024






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11661 – IK / NEXTSTAGE / EUROBIO SCIENTIFIC / JV)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2024/5052)


1.   
On 7 August 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:






—


IK X Luxco 3 S.à.r.l. (Luxembourg), belonging to IK X Funds, managed by IK Investment Partners S.à.r.l. (‘IK Partners’, Luxembourg),










—


NextStage AM (‘NextStage’, France),










—


Eurobio Scientific SA (Eurobio, France), indirectly controlled by NextStage.




IK X Luxco and NextStage will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Eurobio Scientific.
The concentration is accomplished by way of public bid.


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






—


IK Partners: is a European private equity firm headquartered in Luxembourg with offices across various Northern European countries focusing on making investments in the mid-market segment. Currently, it manages and advises funds, which pool capital from third-party investors and, since inception, it has invested in over 180 companies,










—


NextStage: is an independent portfolio management company headquarted in France which supports innovative and growth-oriented French and European mid-sized companies in their development with its multi-strategy capital-investment platform,










—


Eurobio Scientific: is a listed company headquarted in France, active in the diagnostics sector, from research to the marketing of specialty diagnostic products and products for life sciences research.






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 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.


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.11661 – IK / NEXTSTAGE / EUROBIO SCIENTIFIC / 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/2024/5052/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)