Brussels, 08/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has initiated an in-depth investigation, under the "mergers regulation", into the acquisition of part of the Anglo-Norwegian company Kvaener by the Norwegian firm Aker Maritime (AMA). It fears that the operation may strengthen the dominant position of the parties on the oil and gas platform market, as well as that of the maintenance of these platforms, notably on the Norwegian Continental Plateau and in the North Sea.
AMA is a services specialist for off-shore oil and gas exploration and exploitation, with a presence in the shipbuilding sector. The engineering group Kvaener is active in the paper pulp sector, shipbuilding, as well as services for off-shore exploration and the exploitation of oil and gas reserves. The takeover operation would provide AMA with 26.7% of voting rights in Kvaener.
During its four months of enquiry, the Commission intends analysing: 1) the scope of the geographical market in particular with regard to engineering, provision, construction and installation, in order to better examine the competitive effects of the transaction, 2) the strategic position of the oil companies as the customers in the relevant markets.
The undertakings proposed by AMA during the first phase of the procedure did not suffice to lift the doubts of the Commission on the question of off-shore platforms.