Memo: Mergers: Commission statement on OMV’s withdrawal of its notification for the proposed acquisition of MOL

The Commission confirmed that OMV has withdrawn its notification for the proposed acquisition of MOL.

The proposed acquisition would have brought together the only two integrated oil and gas companies active in the region - Austria, Hungary and Slovakia. The Commission had to assess in detail the potential effects of the proposed transaction on the affected markets in particular for refined oil products. The Commission wanted to assess the effects on wholesale and retail competition on refined oil product markets that would have resulted from combining the refineries of the two companies - the only three refineries in Austria, Hungary and Slovakia.

The Commission therefore opened an in-depth investigation in March of this year to determine whether the proposed deal would make consumers and industry worse off in the affected market, particularly through higher prices, a question particularly important at a time of rising oil prices globally.

In the subsequent market investigation, customers such as petrol station owners and wholesalers, consumers associations and hauliers associations expressed serious concerns about the impact of the proposed merger.

As OMV has indicated, there have been informal discussions about possible remedies to address these concerns. The Commission's concern was to ensure a sufficiently independent refinery operator to allow continued competition, particularly on prices. The Commission was also open to receiving a more detailed submission from the parties on retail markets with a view to assessing their effectiveness in addressing the competition concerns.

The parties had not formally submitted remedies, and the deadline for submission, 13 August, had not yet been reached. The Commission had reached no final conclusion on the case.

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