Prior notification of a concentration (Case M. 11331 – ACES / PREZERO / ENAGAS RENOVABLE / PREZERO BIOMETANO) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2024-02-15
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: biogas, circular economy, economic concentration, joint venture, merger control, provision of services, reduction of gas emissions, waste, waste management, water management








C_202401598EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series C













C/2024/1598


15.2.2024






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M. 11331 – ACES / PREZERO / ENAGAS RENOVABLE / PREZERO BIOMETANO)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2024/1598)


1.   
On 6 February 2024, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).
This notification concerns the following undertakings:






—


Aquambiente, Circular Economy Solutions, S.L.U. (‘ACES’, Spain), controlled by Veolia (France),










—


PreZero Gestión de Residuos, S.A. (‘PreZero’, Spain), part of the Schwarz Group (Germany),










—


Enagás Renovable, S.A. (‘Enagás Renovable’, Spain).




ACES, PreZero, and Enagás Renovable will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of PreZero Biometano, S.L. (‘PreZero Biometano’ or the ‘JV’).
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares in a newly created company constituting a joint venture.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are the following:






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ACES is involved in waste and water management activities, as well as in the provision of circular economy services, construction activities and analysis and consulting services related to the foregoing. Veolia is a French group active in the following sectors: (i) water-related services, (ii) waste services, and (iii) energy services.










—


PreZero is part of the German Schwarz Group and provides waste disposal and recycling services in the markets for the collection, sorting, treatment, recycling and disposal of household and commercial waste. The core business of Schwarz is food retailing in over 30 countries through its Lidl and Kaufland divisions.










—


Enagás Renovable is a company focused on the development of projects in the field of renewable gases and decarbonization.






3.   

The business activities of the JV will be the following: to develop, construct and operate a plant for separately organic waste treatment and the production of biogas, which would then be purified to obtain biomethane which will, in turn, be sold to third parties.



4.   
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 treatment for certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in the Notice.


5.   
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. The following reference should always be specified:
M.11331 – ACES / PREZERO / ENAGAS RENOVABLE / PREZERO BIOMETANO
Observations can be sent to the Commission by email or by post. Please use the contact details below:
Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu
Postal 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 160, 5.5.2023, p. 1.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/1598/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)