Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11478 – GUNVOR / EVE / BBE) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2024-04-19
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: Basque Country, Spain, economic concentration, electrical industry, electricity supply, energy industry, energy production, hydrocarbon, merger control, oil industry








C_202402825EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/2825


19.4.2024






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11478 – GUNVOR / EVE / BBE)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2024/2825)


1.   
On 11 April 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:






—


GUNVOR Group Ltd (‘GUNVOR’, Cyprus),










—


ENTE VASCO DE LA ENERGÍA (‘EVE’, Spain), controlled by the Government of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (Spain),










—


BAHÍA DE BIZKAIA ELECTRICIDAD S.L. (‘BBE’, Spain).




GUNVOR and EVE will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of BBE.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


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






—


GUNVOR is an independent commodity trading house. It is active worldwide in the trade, transport, storage and optimization of crude oil, refined petroleum products, energy (LNG/natural gas/power) and bulk materials. It also owns industrial infrastructures such as oil refineries, oil terminals & storage, pipelines, biofuel plants and vessels that complement its daily trading activity,










—


EVE is the Basque Government’s energy public agency. EVE carries out planning, coordination, and control of public sector activities in the Basque Country, particularly in the field of energy as well as in other synergistic fields such as water and telecommunications,










—


BBE is the owner of a combined cycle electric power plant in Bilbao (Spain). BBE’s main activity is the production and wholesale supply of electricity.






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 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.


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. The following reference should always be specified:
M.11478 – GUNVOR / EVE / BBE
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/2024/2825/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)