Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12037 – DEUTSCHE BAHN / SCHWARZ GROUP / DATAHUB EUROPE) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2025-07-15
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: artificial intelligence, data governance, economic concentration, foodstuff, holding company, logistics, merger control, provision of services, retail trade, transport company








C_202503954EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/3954


15.7.2025






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.12037 – DEUTSCHE BAHN / SCHWARZ GROUP / DATAHUB EUROPE)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2025/3954)


1.   
On 8 July 2025, 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:






—


Schwarz IT Beta GmbH (‘Schwarz IT Beta’, Germany), belonging to the Schwarz Group (Germany),










—


Deutsche Bahn Aktiengesellschaft (‘Deutsche Bahn’, Germany), ultimately controlled by the Federal Republic of Germany,










—


DataHub Europe GmbH (‘DataHub Europe’, Germany), currently solely controlled by Schwarz IT Beta.




Schwarz IT Beta and Deutsche Bahn will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of DataHub Europe.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


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






—


Schwarz IT Beta, a holding company, is part of the Schwarz Group which is an international group of companies with a focus on the food retail sector,










—


Deutsche Bahn is active in the transport and logistics industry.






3.   
The business activities of DataHub Europe will be the following:






—


DataHub Europe will be active in the development and distribution of data management and artificial intelligence services and products that enable, inter alia, data curation, data trading and usability of data.






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 concentration 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.12037 – DEUTSCHE BAHN / SCHWARZ GROUP / DATAHUB EUROPE
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/2025/3954/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)