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EU: Commission clears mining and power acquisitions

 |  September 22, 2016

The European Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of Vattenfall Europe Generation and Vattenfall Europe Mining by Energetický a Průmyslový Holding (EPH) and PPF Investments (PPF) after finding that the deal will not adversely affect competition in the relevant markets.

The EC assessed the impact of the on competition in three markets.

  1. The excavation and supply of lignite,
  2. The supply of pulverised lignite in Germany and
  3. The generation and wholesale supply of electricity.

The EC considered that switching lignite supply between Vattenfall mines and EPH mines will be unlikely in the future for reasons that include high transportation costs and differences in lignite quality between Vattenfall and EPH mines.

The Commission also analysed whether the post-merger entity will be able to foreclose access to generation and wholesale supply of electricity. The market investigation confirmed that the merged entity will have neither the ability nor the incentive to deny customers access to supplies.

Full Content: European Commission

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