Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11886 – AAR / AIR FRANCE / XCELLE ASIA JV) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2025-10-03
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: aeronautical industry, air transport, carriage of goods, carriage of passengers, economic concentration, joint venture, maintenance, merger control, provision of services, supplier








C_202505374EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/5374


3.10.2025






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11886 – AAR / AIR FRANCE / XCELLE ASIA JV)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2025/5374)


1.   
On 25 September 2025, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 and following a referral pursuant to Article 4(5) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).
This notification concerns the following undertakings:






—


AAR CORP (‘AAR’, USA),










—


Societe Air France (‘Air France’, France),










—


xCelle Asia JV (‘JV’, Thailand).




AAR and Air France will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of xCelle Asia.
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:






—


AAR is a global aerospace and defense supplier offering a range of aviation services and products, including maintenance, repair, and overhaul (‘MRO’), as well as supply chain solutions,










—


Air France is engaged in the business of passengers and cargo transportation together with aeronautical maintenance for airlines.






3.   

The business activities of the JV will be the following: provision of MRO services for nacelles in the Asia/Pacific region.



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.11886 – AAR / AIR FRANCE / XCELLE ASIA 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/2025/5374/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)