E.C. clears E.ON to buy Endesa, Enel assets

The commission concluded the deal it wouldn’t “significantly impede competition” in Europe. The antitrust clearance follows the commission’s approval of Italian Enel and Spanish engineering group Acciona SA’s joint purchase of Spanish power company Endesa SA ELE.
E.ON AG was also a contender in the battle to buy Endesa but withdrew its bid in April, saying it had agreed with Enel and Acciona to buy Endesa assets worth about €10 billion. The commission clearance completes the agreement between the three energy companies.

E.ON is one of Europe’s largest power and gas companies. Its annual sales total just under €68 billion ($93.1 billion) and it has around 81,000 employees, according to the company Web site. Endesa Europa is active in the electricity sector in European countries outside of Spain. Its activities in France, Italy, Poland and Turkey will be transferred to E.ON. In addition E.ON is getting some additional Spanish generation capacity from Endesa. The Viesgo subsidiaries of Enel are active in the Spanish electricity sector.

With the help of these acquisitions, E.ON will extend its activities into markets where it isn’t active, or has very limited exposure. The commission’s examination of the takeover confirmed that the parties have “limited overlapping activities in the electricity markets in France, Italy, Germany and Poland.” The combined company isn’t likely to create competitive concerns in any of these countries, as it would have very limited market shares and would face competition from other significant players, the commission said. (marketwatch.com)