Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12251 – HOCHTIEF / KFW / VER GEO LIO)
Date: 2026-02-05
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: building industry, economic concentration, energy production, geothermal energy, lithium, merger control, mining of ore, power plant, renewable energy, thermal energy








C_202600834EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2026/834


5.2.2026






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.12251 – HOCHTIEF / KFW / VER GEO LIO)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2026/834)


1.   
On 28 January 2026, 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:






—


HOCHTIEF Aktiengesellschaft (‘HOCHTIEF’, Germany) controlled by ACS, Actividades Construcción y Servicios, S.A (‘ACS’, Spain),










—


Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (‘KfW’, Germany), acting on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (‘BMWE’),










—


Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (‘Vulcan’, Australia),










—


VER GEO LIO GmbH (‘PlatformCO’, Germany), currently controlled by Vulcan.




HOCHTIEF, Vulcan and KfW will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of PlatformCO.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


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






—


HOCHTIEF is a global infrastructure group with core activities in the areas of construction, services, and concessions/public-private partnerships,










—


KfW is a national promotional bank under public law acting in the present transaction on behalf of the BMWE,










—


Vulcan is active in the generation of renewable electricity and heat and will be active in the extraction of lithium.






3.   

The business activity of the undertaking Platform CO is the following: provision of renewable energy and heat through its geothermal plants.



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.12251 – HOCHTIEF / KFW / VER GEO LIO
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/2026/834/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)