Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12112 – FSK / ARES / PRODUCTION RESOURCE GROUP) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2025-09-22
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: cultural event, culture industry, economic concentration, hire purchase, investment company, merger control, provision of services, sale, technology








C_202505131EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/5131


22.9.2025






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.12112 – FSK / ARES / PRODUCTION RESOURCE GROUP)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2025/5131)


1.   
On 15 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:






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FS KKR Capital Corp. (‘FSK’, USA),










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Ares Management Corporation (‘Ares’, USA), controlled by Ares Partners Holdco LLC (USA),










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Production Resource Group, L.L.C. (‘PRG’, USA), controlled by PRG III, L.L.C. (USA).




FSK and Ares will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of PRG.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


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






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FSK is a publicly traded, externally managed, non-diversified, closed-end management investment company that has elected to be regulated as a business development company, under the Investment Company Act of 1940 of the United States. The portfolio companies indirectly controlled by FSK have operations at a global level.










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Ares is a global alternative investment manager offering clients complementary primary and secondary investment solutions across the credit, real estate, private equity and infrastructure asset classes. The portfolio companies indirectly controlled by Ares have operations at a global level.










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PRG is a provider of entertainment and event technology services and operates the following business lines: (i) the leasing and servicing of production and event equipment including lighting, audio and video equipment; (ii) the sale of used production and event equipment; and (iii) the leasing of multi-purpose pre-production and rehearsal spaces. PRG is active at a global level.






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 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.12112 – FSK / ARES / PRODUCTION RESOURCE GROUP
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/2025/5131/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)