Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12322 – NEUBERGER / ARES / ONEX / FOUNDER / RYAN) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2026-02-25
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: consultancy, economic concentration, investment, investment company, merger control, provision of services, software, tax system








C_202601247EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2026/1247


25.2.2026






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.12322 – NEUBERGER / ARES / ONEX / FOUNDER / RYAN)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2026/1247)


1.   
On 16 February 2026, 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:






—


NB Alternatives Advisers LLC (‘Neuberger’, USA), controlled by Neuberger Berman Group LLC,










—


Onex Corporation (‘Onex’, Canada), a company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange,










—


Ares Management Corporation (‘Ares’, USA), a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange,










—


G. Brint Ryan (‘Founder’, USA), a private individual who is the founder of Ryan,










—


Ryan, LLC (‘Ryan’, USA), controlled by Onex, Ares and Founder.




Neuberger, Onex, Ares, and the Founder will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Ryan.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


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






—


Neuberger is an affiliate of the Neuberger Group, which is a US-based private, employee-owned global investment manager founded in 1939, that manages equities, fixed income, private equity, real estate, and hedge fund portfolios for institutions, advisors, and individuals.










—


Ares is a US-based global alternative investment manager offering clients complementary primary and secondary investment solutions across the credit, private equity, real estate and infrastructure asset classes.










—


Onex is a Canadian-based corporation listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange that invests in companies directly and through a number of private equity funds.










—


The Founder, Mr. Ryan, controls and has minority investments in other businesses that collectively generate immaterial revenues solely in the US.










—


Ryan is a tax services and consulting firm and provider of tax management software solutions.






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.12322 – NEUBERGER / ARES / ONEX / FOUNDER / RYAN
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/2026/1247/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)