On Wednesday 20 December, the General Court of the EU dismissed the appeals brought by 11 German municipal authorities against the Commission’s green light for the acquisition of Innogy’s energy distribution and retail activities and certain production assets by Essen-based E.ON (cases T-53/21, T-55/21, T-56/21, T-58/21, T-59/21, T-60/21, T-61/21, T-62/21, T-63/21, T-64/21 and T-65/21).
In March 2018, electricity supplier E.ON had announced the acquisition of sole control of the energy distribution and retail businesses as well as certain generation assets of Innogy SE, a subsidiary of the giant RWE, also based in Essen. RWE was planning to acquire a 16.67% stake in E.ON in a second transaction announced at the same time.
These two operations were submitted to the European Commission for approval, which validated them. In the wake of the merger, 11 German municipal authorities challenged the decision before the General Court of the European Union, arguing that the Commission had erred in its assessment of the merger’s compatibility with EU competition law.
In its judgment, the General Court dismissed the appeals, holding that an exchange of assets between independent companies does not constitute a ‘single concentration’. Furthermore, according to the General Court, the Commission did not commit an error of assessment when it validated these two procedures.
The 11 German municipal authorities had also referred to the Court the matter of RWE’s proposed acquisition of sole or joint control of certain of E.ON’s generation assets. The Court ruled on 17 May and had already dismissed the appeals, some on the merits and others on the grounds that they were inadmissible.
To see the judgment, go to https://aeur.eu/f/a76 (in French) (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)