Hungarian MOL may acquire Slovenian OMV for 301 million euros

The European Commission has given its consent to the Hungarian oil company MOL to acquire OMV in Slovenia. The condition is the sale of service stations across Slovenia to the Shell Group, which will allow it to compete with the merged project, RTV SLO reports.

The sale of Shell filling stations will ensure competition, experts say.

According to the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission (EC) Margrethe Vestager, Slovenian consumers will continue to have access to fuel at competitive prices.

MOL signed an agreement to acquire 92.25% stake in OMV Slovenia, in which it already holds a 7.75% stake, in June 2021.The agreed purchase price for the entire stake is 301 million euros, which will bring 119 filling stations in Slovenia to the network. Meanwhile, the Hungarians have 53 service stations in Slovenia. The largest supplier is Petrol with 318 outlets.

The European Commission began an inspection of the business on 13 May last year, and a month later launched an in-depth investigation. As there were initial concerns that the deal would weaken competition in the retail gasoline and diesel fuel market for individuals in Slovenia, the buyer proposed to sell 39 filling stations in Slovenia, which are currently operated by the MOL and OMV Slovenia filling stations, to Shell Group.

These commitments completely eliminate the competition concerns identified by the Commission, the European Commission said in today's decision. "The feedback provided by customers and competitors during the market testing of the proposed undertakings confirmed the Commission's view that the divestiture will be a profitable activity that will allow the Shell Group to compete effectively with the merged company," the Commission added.

The Commission therefore concluded that the proposed transaction, modified by obligations, would no longer raise competition concerns. The condition is that the obligations are fully implemented.

According to the Executive Vice-President of the EC Vestager, who is responsible for competition policy, it is necessary to ensure that the motor fuel market remains open and competitive, especially in the current energy crisis.

MOL and OMV Slovenia is the third and second largest retail fuel supplier in Slovenia after Petrol. The Shell Group, a large global group of energy and petrochemical companies, currently operates a network of nine pumps in Slovenia, eight of which are dedicated to trucks.