Prior notification of a concentration (Case COMP/M.6910 — Gazprom/Wintershall/Target Companies)  Text with EEA relevance
Date: 2013-11-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, gas pipeline, merger control, natural gas








C_2013321EN.01000701.xml










7.11.2013   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 321/7





Prior notification of a concentration
(Case COMP/M.6910 — Gazprom/Wintershall/Target Companies)
(Text with EEA relevance)
2013/C 321/07






1.


On 30 October 2013 the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1), concerning a swap of certain assets between JSC Gazprom (‘Gazprom’) and Wintershall Holding GmbH (‘Wintershall’) pursuant to a Basic Swap Agreement dated November 14, 2012. Under the Agreement, in exchange for minority interests in certain of its natural gas and gas condensate exploration and production assets in Western Siberia, Gazprom will acquire from Wintershall: (1) sole control of Wingas GmbH (‘Wingas’) and Wintershall Erdgas Handelshaus GmbH & Co. KG (‘WIEH’), two natural gas supply and storage joint ventures formed and jointly controlled by Wintershall and Gazprom, and (2) joint control of Wintershall Noordzee BV (‘WINZ’) and Wintershall Services BV (‘Wintershall Services’), two wholly owned Wintershall subsidiaries engaged in relatively minor oil and gas exploration and production activities in the North Sea. The proposed acquisitions are interdependent and therefore constitute a single concentration within the meaning of Regulation (EC) No 139/2004.










2.


The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






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Gazprom is active in the exploration, production, transportation, supply, trading, distribution, and storage of natural gas,










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Wintershall, owned by BASF SE (‘BASF’), engages in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas in particular in Europe, Northern Africa, South America and Russia, as well as in natural gas pipeline operation, investment and natural gas supply and storage,










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Wintershall and Gazprom also jointly own and control a German gas transmission business, which is conducted through the transmission operators GASCADE Gastransport GmbH, OPAL Gastransport GmbH & Co. KG, and NEL Gastransport GmbH. This transmission business is not included in the Transaction and will remain jointly controlled by Wintershall and Gazprom,










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Wingas is a subsidiary of W&G Beteiligungs-GmbH & Co. KG (‘W&G’) which is jointly controlled by Wintershall and Gazprom. Wingas is active in the downstream gas supply in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and several other Western European countries. Wingas also offers natural gas storage in Germany and Austria through its subsidiary Astora GmbH & Co. KG,










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WIEH, currently jointly controlled by Wintershall and Gazprom, purchases gas from Gazprom for supply, inter alia, to Wingas in Germany,










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WINZ/Wintershall Services are wholly owned subsidiaries of Wintershall. WINZ is engaged in oil and gas exploration and production in the North Sea, principally in the Dutch sector but also in Denmark and the United Kingdom. Wintershall Services, in turn, provides platform staff and related services for WINZ.














3.


On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope the EC Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved.










4.


The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.
Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. Observations can be sent to the Commission by fax (+32 22964301), by e-mail to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post, under reference number COMP/M.6910 — Gazprom/Wintershall/Target Companies, to the following address:





European Commission




Directorate-General for Competition




Merger Registry




1049 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË










(1)  OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘EC Merger Regulation’).