Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12386 – ADVENT / AFK / TA / VOLUE) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2026-04-01
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: consultancy, economic concentration, energy production, hydraulic energy, investment company, merger control, renewable energy, software








C_202602056EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2026/2056


1.4.2026






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.12386 – ADVENT / AFK / TA / VOLUE)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2026/2056)


1.   
On 23 March 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:






—


Advent International, L.P. and/or its affiliates (‘Advent’, USA),










—


Arendals Fossekompani ASA (‘AFK’, Norway),










—


TA Associates Management, L.P. (‘TA’, USA),










—


Volue AS (‘Volue’, Norway), currently jointly controlled by Advent and AFK.




Advent, AFK and TA will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Volue.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


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






—


Advent is a private equity investor based in Boston, USA. Advent focuses on the acquisition of equity stakes and the management of investment funds in various sectors, including healthcare, industrial, technology, retail, consumer and leisure, and business and financial services,










—


AFK is a Norwegian industrial investment company combining industrial, technology and capital markets expertise to identify value creation opportunities. AFK invests in forward-looking industries such as 3D printing, satellite services, energy storage, software, and digitalisation. AFK is also a producer of renewable hydropower,










—


TA is the registered investment adviser to the TA funds. TA generally invests in five core sectors: technology, financial services, healthcare, consumer, and business services industries in North America, Europe and Asia,










—


Volue is a software publisher active in the energy sector. Volue supplies software used exclusively by energy producers to optimise the energy-specific aspects of their operations.






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.12386 – ADVENT / AFK / TA / VOLUE
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/2026/2056/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)