LJUBLJANA (Slovenia), August 11 (SeeNews) – The European Commission said on Wednesday it has approved the acquisition of joint control over a newly created joint venture by Slovenian state-owned railway company Slovenske Zeleznice (SZ) and Czech company EP Logistics International (EPLI).
“The Commission concluded that the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns, because of the limited impact it would have on the market, as the companies' activities are mainly complementary since they focus on different member states,” it said in a statement.
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SZ and EPLI plan to create a new JV company, which will be composed of two SZ units, SZ - Tovorni promet (SZ-TP), which offers conventional and intermodal rail freight transport and logistic services in Slovenia, Austria and Croatia, and freight forwarding services provider Fersped.
EPLI is owned by Energetický a průmyslový Holding (EP Holding), a Czech vertically integrated energy utility company offering rail freight transport services in Czechia, Germany, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, and freight forwarding services in Austria, Czechia, Germany, Poland and Slovakia.
Public broadcaster RTV Slovenija reported in December 2020 that SZ and Prague-based EP Holding signed a deal to set up a 51/49 joint venture company, aiming to become a leading player on the freight and logistics market in Southeast Europe. Under the deal, EP Holding will invest 60 million euro ($70.3 million) in the new company, while SZ will transfer to it the assets of SZ-TP. The main goal of the new company is to double its profit and raise its revenue by 50% in the first five years of operation, according to the media reports.
($=0.852 euro)