07/03/2019 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday 7 March, the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation into E.ON's proposed acquisition of Innogy. Both companies operate in the energy sector. Innogy currently belongs to RWE. RWE and E.ON recently decided to carry out an asset swap. As a result, E.ON will take over certain electricity generation assets from Innogy. Conversely, RWE will acquire certain production assets currently held by E.ON, the latter operation having been validated a few days ago by the Commission (see EUROPE 12202/17). As regards the acquisition of Innogy by E.ON, the institution is concerned that the transaction may distort competition in retail energy markets in Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. For this reason, it has decided to conduct a thorough review of the impacts of the project. (LT)