Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12130 – JOHN COCKERILL DEFENSE / FN HERSTAL / THALES / LS2) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2025-12-22
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: Belgium, armed forces, combat vehicle, economic concentration, general mechanical engineering, maintenance, merger control








C_202506767EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/6767


22.12.2025






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.12130 – JOHN COCKERILL DEFENSE / FN HERSTAL / THALES / LS2)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2025/6767)


1.   
On 11 December 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:






—


Thales Belgium SA (‘Thales’, Belgium) controlled by Thales SA (France),










—


John Cockerill Defense SA (‘John Cockerill’, Belgium) controlled by John Cockerill SA (Belgium),










—


FN Herstal SA (‘FN Herstal’, Belgium) indirectly controlled by Wallonie Entreprendre,










—


LS2 (‘Target’, Belgium).




Thales Belgium, John Cockerill and FN Herstal, will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of LS2.
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:






—


Thales specialises in designing, developing, supplying, and maintaining advanced, secure electronic systems, solutions and equipment in the defence and security sectors,










—


John Cockerill specialises in developing, producing, and maintaining embedded large-caliber weapon systems and armoured vehicles for land forces,










—


FN Herstal specialises in designing, manufacturing, and maintaining small arms, ammunition, and related systems for the defence, security, and law enforcement sectors.






3.   

The business activities of the undertaking LS2 will be the following: one-stop-shop service for the preventive, corrective, and evolutive maintenance of land-based systems used primarily by the Belgian Ministry of Defence.



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.12130 – JOHN COCKERILL DEFENSE / FN HERSTAL / THALES / LS2
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/2025/6767/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)