1.   

On 12 November 2020, 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:

—	Första AP-fonden (‘AP1’, Sweden)

—	Tredje AP-fonden (‘AP3’, Sweden)

—	Fjärde AP-fonden (‘AP4’, Sweden)

—	Telia Carrier entities (Sweden)

AP1, AP3 and AP4 acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of 34 Telia Carriers entities in 34 EU and non-EU jurisdictions.

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares by an investment company, Polhem Infra KB, incorporated and jointly controlled by AP1, AP3 and AP4, which will thus indirectly control the Telia Carrier entities.

2.   

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—	for AP1, AP3 and AP4: pension funds which act as a buffer in the Swedish national pension system. They are independent governmental authorities taking independent decisions on their investments.

—	for Telia Carriers Entities: ultimately owned by Telia Company AB, they operate a global fiber network (internet backbone), which is used for the provision of international carrier services;

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 procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under the Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (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 operation 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.10019 — AP1/AP3/AP4/Telia Carrier Entities

Observations can be sent to the Commission by email, by fax, or by post. Please use the contact details below:

Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu

Fax +32 22964301

Postal address:

European Commission

Directorate-General for Competition

Merger Registry

1049 Bruxelles/Brussel

BELGIQUE/BELGIË