Brussels, 02/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - After an in-depth investigation that began in March (see EUROPE 10816), on 2 September the European Commission cleared the acquisition of certain refinery assets of Shell Deutschland Oil GmbH located in Hamburg/Harburg (Germany) by Nynas AB of Sweden, the biggest company in the world for naphthenic base and process oils.
The European Commission feared that the deal would cause competition problems because it would make Nynas the only manufacturer of naphthenic base and process oils in the European Economic Area, the only competitor being Ergon of the United States, but the investigation showed that Nynas was the only potential purchaser and, if the deal did not go ahead, then Shell would have closed down the refinery in question, thus reducing the number of suppliers and naphthenic production capacity in the EEA, which would force consumers to use high-cost imported oil. The Commission found that the deal would have a positive impact on competition because Nynas would achieve significant reductions of variable costs for its additional supplies, which are likely to be passed on to consumers to some extent. It therefore decided to give the transaction the go-ahead. (FG/transl.fl)