Commission Decision of 24/02/2012 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.6480 - PETROFINA / FINA ANTWERP OLEFINS) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic) |EUROPEAN COMMISSION | Brussels , 24.02.2012 SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE PUBLIC VERSION C(2012) 1365 To the notifying party Dear Madam(s) and/or Sir(s), Subject: Case No COMP/M.6480 - PETROFINA / FINA ANTWERP OLEFINS Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 [1] 1. On 25.01.2012, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which PetroFina S.A.
("PetroFina", Belgium), belonging to the Total group, acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the whole of Fina Antwerp Olefins N.V. ("FAO", Belgium) by way of purchase of ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical BVBA's 35% equity interest in FAO. [2] 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are: - for the Total group: manufactures, distributes and sells base chemicals, commodity polymers and specialty chemicals through its chemical business segment. - for PetroFina: distributes and sells base chemicals as well as commodity polymers produced therefrom. - for FAO: a processing company, which owns three naphtha crackers, satellite units and logistics and which manufactures base chemicals (ethylene and propylene) and their co-products.
3. After examination of the notification, the European Commission has concluded that the notified operation falls within the scope of the Merger Regulation and of paragraph 5(d) of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 [3] . 4. For the reasons set out in the Notice on a simplified procedure, the European Commission has decided not to oppose the notified operation and to declare it compatible with the internal market and with the EEA Agreement. This decision is adopted in application of Article 6(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation.
For the Commission (Signed) Alexander ITALIANER Director General [1]OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 ("the Merger Regulation"). With effect from 1 December 2009, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ("TFEU") has introduced certain changes, such as the replacement of "Community" by "Union" and "common market" by "internal market". The terminology of the TFEU will be used throughout this decision. [2] Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 27, 01.02.2012, p.16 [3] OJ C 56, 5.3.2005, p. 32.