Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12017 – KKR / HHS / DATAGROUP) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2025-09-10
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, holding company, information technology industry, investment company, merger control, parent company, private limited company, provision of services








C_202504997EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/4997


10.9.2025






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.12017 – KKR / HHS / DATAGROUP)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2025/4997)


1.   
On 1 September 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:






—


KKR & Co. Inc. (‘KKR’, United States),










—


HHS Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH (‘HHS’, Germany),










—


DATAGROUP SE (‘DATAGROUP’, Germany).




KKR and HHS will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of DATAGROUP, which is currently under the sole control of HHS.
The concentration is accomplished by way of public bid announced on 15 April 2025.


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






—


KKR is a global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions,










—


HHS is a limited liability company under German law and the family holding company indirectly controlled by Mr. Max H. Schaber, German citizen and resident.






3.   

The business activities of the undertaking DATAGROUP are the following: DATAGROUP is the German parent company of a group of companies that provide IT services and solutions.



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.12017 – KKR / HHS / DATAGROUP
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/2025/4997/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)