Fuente: © European Union
http://europa.eu.int

EU: Mergers: Commission approves planned acquisition of Endesa by Enel and Acciona

/noticias.info/ The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of sole control through a public takeover bid for Endesa S.A., a Spanish energy company mainly active in the electricity sector, by ENEL S.p.A., based in Italy, and Acciona S.A., based in Spain. After examining the operation, the Commission concluded that the proposed transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.

ENEL is an Italian electricity operator, active in the generation, distribution and supply of electricity mainly in Italy, where it is the main provider of electricity to both domestic and industrial users, and also in Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Russia, France, and North and South America. It is also active in the purchase and sale of natural gas for domestic electricity generation and gas operations in Italy.

Acciona is a corporate group primarily based in Spain, whose main lines of business are the development and management of infrastructure and real estate projects, the provision of transport, urban and environmental services, as well as the development and operation of renewable energies.

Endesa is a Spanish electricity operator that is to a limited extent also active in other European countries, in particular in Portugal, France, Italy, Germany and Poland. In addition, Endesa is active in South America and North Africa. In Spain, Endesa is also present in the gas sector. Endesa’s shares are listed on the Madrid and the New York stock exchanges.

On 26th March 2007 ENEL and Acciona agreed to acquire joint control of Endesa by launching a joint public bid for the shares in Endesa that they did not already own or control.

On 2nd April 2007 ENEL, Acciona and E.ON agreed that ENEL and Endesa would transfer a number of rights and assets to E.ON, an energy company headquartered in Germany with its main activities in the generation, transmission and supply of electricity and gas throughout Europe and in the US. These rights and assets include ENEL's existing electricity generation, distribution and supply business in Spain (except for its stake in EUFER), certain additional Endesa assets located in Spain, and Endesa's current business in Italy, together with related businesses in France, Poland and Turkey. These businesses do not fall within the scope of the notified concentration since ENEL and Acciona would not acquire any lasting control over them.

The acquisition of joint control of Endesa by ENEL and Acciona had already been notified to and authorised by the Commission on 5 July 2007 (see IP/07/1023). However, on 18 March 2008 Enel, E.ON and Acciona concluded another agreement modifying their 2007 agreement concerning the assets to be transferred to E.ON. This new agreement excludes one of Endesa's power plants that was to be divested to E.ON (the Foix power plant in France) and substitutes one power plant in Spain (Besos 3) for another one (Tarragona 1).

Under the Merger Regulation, the change in scope of the transaction required a new notification, as the previous decision had been taken on the basis of a different scope. However, the Commission's analysis showed that the impact of the amendments on the affected market is negligible because of the minimal changes in the market shares of the parties after the new agreement.

Competition in the Spanish market for the wholesale supply of electricity, which is the only horizontally affected market, did not materially change in the last year and a number of other companies such as Iberdrola, Unión Fenosa and EDP/Hidrocantábrico are competing with the parties in this market. The Commission therefore concluded that the proposed transaction would not raise competition concerns.
More information on the case will be available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/mergers/cases/index/m103.html#m_5171

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