Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11781 – CDPQ / ENGIE / FHH) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2024-11-08
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: Canada, United Kingdom, economic concentration, electrical industry, electricity supply, energy production, investment company, merger control, natural gas, pension scheme








C_202406801EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/6801


8.11.2024






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11781 – CDPQ / ENGIE / FHH)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2024/6801)


1.   
On 29 October 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:






—


Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (‘CDPQ’) (Canada),










—


ENGIE S.A. (‘ENGIE’) (France),










—


FHH No.1 Limited and subsidiaries (‘FHH’) (United Kingdom) (‘UK’), currently controlled by ENGIE and BIF III UK First Hydro Aggregator LP (UK).




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


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






—


CDPQ is an institutional investor that manages funds of its depositors, primarily comprised of public and parapublic pension and insurance plans from Québec,










—


ENGIE is a French global energy company active throughout the energy-value chain in the fields of natural gas, electricity and energy services,










—


FHH owns and operates two pumped storage electricity assets in Wales (UK) and is active in the production and wholesale supply of electricity in the UK.






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.11781 – CDPQ / ENGIE / FHH
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/2024/6801/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)