Commission Decision of 20/03/2012 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.6494 - TOTAL / NOVATEK / OAO YAMAL LNG) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic) |EUROPEAN COMMISSION | Brussels , 20.03.2012 SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE PUBLIC VERSION C(2012) 1969 To the notifying parties Dear Madam(s) and/or Sir(s), Subject: Case No COMP/M.6494 – TOTAL/ NOVATEK/ OAO YAMAL LNG Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 [1] 1. On 15/02/2012, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which the undertakings Total E&P Yamal ("Total E&P Yamal", France), ultimately controlled by Total S.A., and OAO Novatek ("Novatek", Russia) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the undertaking OAO Yamal LNG ("Yamal LNG", Russia) by way of purchase of shares in a newly created company constituting a joint venture [2] .
2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are: - for Total : natural gas and oil production, refining and marketing of oil products, petrochemicals and specialty chemicals. - for Novatek : exploration, production, processing and marketing of natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons. - for Yamal LNG: geological exploration and production of hydrocarbon raw materials at the South Tambeyskoye natural gas and condensate field (Russian Federation), currently in the early exploration stage. 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(c) 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 C055, 24/02/2012, p. 23 [3] OJ C 56, 5.3.2005, p. 32 ("Notice on a simplified procedure").