May 18 (SeeNews) - The European Commission (EC) approved the purchase of the Slovenian unit of Austria's OMV by Hungarian oil and gas company MOL, it said.
The approval follows an in-depth investigation of the proposed acquisition and is conditional on the divestiture of 39 fuel stations in Slovenia, currently operating as part of the fuel station networks of both MOL and OMV, to the Shell Group, the EU Commission said in a statement on Wednesday.
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EC considers that the operation no longer raises competition concerns, it said.
MOL signed in March an agreement to sell the 39 filling stations to Shell in order to obtain the approval of the European Commission for the transaction. The Shell Group currently operates a network of nine stations in Slovenia, eight of which are dedicated to trucks.
In June 2022, the EU Commission said it is opening a detailed inquiry into the acquisition of OMV Slovenia by MOL. The Commission had to make public its decision by October 28 but decided to postpone it due to concerns that the merger of the third and second largest fuel retailers in Slovenia after partially state-owned Petrol would result in the new entity holding a very large share of the local market.
MOL unveiled an agreement in 2021 to buy a 92.25% stake in OMV Slovenia at an enterprise value of 346 million euro ($373 million). OMV Slovenia operates 119 fuel stations under the OMV, OMV Viva, Diskont, Avanti and EuroTruck brands and is also active in the wholesale supply of motor fuels, heating oil and bitumen.
($ = 0.9278 euro)
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