On Tuesday 19 July, the European Commission authorised the acquisition of Equans by Bouygues. The authorisation is subject to full compliance with the commitments offered by Bouygues.
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of competition policy, said that the combined market shares of the two groups after the merger would result in a dominant market position. The proposed commitments “ensure that a player will remain in the market continuing to exert competitive pressure in the relevant Belgian market while customers will preserve choice of suppliers and competitive prices”.
Bouygues and Equans are both global providers of multi-technical and engineering services to a wide range of sectors. Bouygues, through Colas Rail Belgium, and Equans are among the very few providers of electrical engineering services for railway contact lines in Belgium and represent two of the three providers nationwide.
The Commission was concerned that the transaction as initially notified would reduce competition in this market.
In order to allay the Commission’s competition concerns, Bouygues has offered to divest Colas Rail Belgium in its entirety, including all assets, personnel and current and future contracts of its rail contact line and track installation businesses. As a result, Colas Rail Belgium will remain an independent competitor of Bouygues and Equans on the relevant market in Belgium.
These commitments fully address all the competition concerns identified by the European Commission. Colas Rail Belgium is a viable and attractive business, which would allow suitable buyers to compete effectively with the merged entity, according to the Commission’s statement. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)