Brussels, 21/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 21 December, the European Commission conditionally cleared the planned acquisition of Elster by Honeywell.
The two companies' activities overlap in the sectors for residential heating products, industrial heating products and metering products used in the upstream/midstream gas sector.
The Commission identified competition concerns resulting from several upstream/midstream gas metering markets: the EEA-wide markets for turbine gas meters for fiscal applications (i.e. meters used for billing purposes) and gas flow computers and gas chromatographs that operate by DGFG (Digitale Schnittstelle für Gasmessgeräte) protocol. This is a data protocol for gas metering equipment which is prevalently used by consumers in German-speaking areas. To address all competition concerns, Honeywell proposed to divest all shares it owns in a plant which produces gas meters, located in Butzbach, Germany, to an independent purchaser, including all tangible and intangible assets as well as personnel. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)