Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12085 – AXEL SPRINGER / SCHWARZ GROUP / DYN MEDIA and DYN PRODUCTIONS JV) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2025-10-14
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: audiovisual production, broadcasting, economic concentration, holding company, merger control, sporting event








C_202505533EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/5533


14.10.2025






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.12085 – AXEL SPRINGER / SCHWARZ GROUP / DYN MEDIA and DYN PRODUCTIONS JV)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2025/5533)


1.   
On 3 October 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 New Ventures GmbH (‘Schwarz New Ventures’, Germany), belonging to the Schwarz Group (Germany),










—


Axel Springer SE (‘Axel Springer’, Germany), ultimately controlled by Dr. Matthias Döpfner,










—


Dyn Media GmbH (‘Dyn Media’, Germany), currently solely controlled by Axel Springer,










—


Dyn Productions NewCo GmbH (‘Dyn Productions JV’, Germany), which will be incorportated in the course of the transaction.




Schwarz New Ventures and Axel Springer will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Dyn Media and Dyn Productions JV.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


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






—


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










—


Axel Springer is a transatlantic media company.






3.   
The business activities of Dyn Media are the following: streaming provider offering subscription-based video on demand sports content.
The business activities of Dyn Productions JV will be the following: production of audiovisual content for Dyn Media.


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.12085 – AXEL SPRINGER / SCHWARZ GROUP / DYN MEDIA and DYN PRODUCTIONS 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/2025/5533/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)