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UK: CC reasserts authority over controversial Eurotunnel deal

By  |  March 23, 2014

A controversial decision by the Competition Commission regarding French ferry firm Eurotunnel’s acquisition of assets from now-defunct rival SeaFrance has hit a new turn, as the Commission recently decided it does, in fact, have jurisdiction over the transaction and therefore was valid in ruling that Eurotunnel should divest some assets.

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    The Competition Appeal Tribunal last December told the Commission to review its decision to force Eurotunnel to divest certain assets, suggesting that the Commission should look again at whether the acquisition constituted a merger and thus gave the Commission jurisdiction over the deal.

    But a provisional ruling by the Commission found that the Eurotunnel buy did constitute a merger. The assets in question involve a ferry route at the Port of Dover, which the Commission ruled Eurotunnel should divest.

    While the Commission is not expected to release its official decision until early May, Eurotunnel responded to the provisional ruling with criticism, reports said.

    Eurotunnel first acquired the SeaFrance assets in June 2012.

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