Brussels, 05/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - On 4 November, the European Commission authorised the proposed acquisition of joint control of Shell Aviation Ireland Limited (SAIL) by Topaz Energy Group Limited of Ireland.
SAIL is currently wholly-owned by Royal Dutch Shell plc (oil, gas, petrochemicals) and markets aviation fuels in Ireland. Topaz is an independent Irish oil company selling petroleum products in Ireland.
Investigation of the operation, of which the Commission was notified on 28 September 2010, focused in particular on: - the horizontal overlap between the activity of SAIL and Topaz on the market of ex-refinery sales of aviation fuels in Ireland; - the vertical relationship between Topaz's activity on the upstream market for ex-refinery sales of aviation fuels and SAIL's activity on the downstream market for into-plane services at Dublin and Cork airports. The Commission concluded that the proposed transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area, due to the existing business relationship between Topaz and SAIL and the presence of large suppliers on the markets. (F.G./transl.rt)