Brussels, 4 November 2022
The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of Lotos SPV 1 sp. z o.o. (‘Lotos Wholesale Business’) of Poland, by Aramco Overseas Company B.V. (‘AOC’) of the Netherlands. Lotos Wholesale Business is a special purpose vehicle and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grupa Lotos S.A. (‘Lotos’), currently owned by PKN Orlen, active in the wholesale distribution of fuels in Poland. AOC, ultimately controlled by Saudi Aramco of Saudi Arabia, provides its affiliates with a wide range of financial, administrative and technical support services. In the context of the application of commitments submitted by PKN Orlen and Lotos in the case PKN Orlen/Grupa Lotos (M.9014), AOC is in the process of acquiring a number of businesses which previously belonged to Lotos. One of those businesses is active in the into-plane supply of jet fuel, a market downstream from the wholesale distribution of fuels market, on which Lotos Wholesale Business is active. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, given that (i) Lotos Wholesale Business would only have a limited presence in the upstream market for ex-refinery sales of jet fuel; and (ii) the transaction would not give rise to additional vertical integration in the industry for the supply of jet fuel. The transaction was examined under the normal merger review procedure. More information is available on the Commission’s competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.10697.
Source – EU Commission