Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.8232 — Diamond Offshore Wind Holdings II/Eneco Wind Belgium/Elnu/Norther) — Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2016-10-25
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, electrical industry, energy production, merger control, wind energy








C_2016393EN.01001401.xml










25.10.2016   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 393/14





Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.8232 — Diamond Offshore Wind Holdings II/Eneco Wind Belgium/Elnu/Norther)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2016/C 393/07)






1.


On 14 October 2016, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which Eneco Wind Belgium NV (‘EWB’, Belgium) controlled by Eneco Holding NV, Elnu NV (Belgium) controlled by Elicio NV, and Diamond Offshore Wind Holdings II BV (‘DOWH’, Belgium) controlled by Mitsubishi Corporation, acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Norther NV (‘Norther’, Belgium) by way of purchase of shares.










2.


The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






—


EWB is active in Belgium in the production of electricity from wind energy. EWB participates in and manages both ‘onshore’ and ‘offshore’ wind farm projects. For onshore wind farms, EWB is active at both the development stage and the exploitation stage, for offshore wind farms, EWB is in Belgium currently only active at the development stage.










—


Elnu is a 100 % subsidiary of Elicio NV (‘Elicio’). In Belgium, Elicio (through its subsidiaries) generates electricity from operational onshore wind farms and is developing various projects relating to the production of biomass and wind energy (including offshore wind farms). Elicio is a subsidiary of Nethys SA.










—


DOWH is a vehicle set up by Diamond Generating Europe Limited, a 100 % subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation (‘MC’). MC is a Japanese company active at global level in various industries. It currently does not have any activities in Belgium in the wind sector.










—


Norther is an existing joint venture between EWB and Elnu. Norther will own, operate and maintain a wind farm located in the North Sea.














3.


On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved. Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in this Notice.










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 email to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post, under reference M.8232 — Diamond Offshore Wind Holdings II/Eneco Wind Belgium/Elnu/Norther, 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 ‘Merger Regulation’).

(2)  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.