Groen licht voor overname voorzieningen GDF door Total in Zuidwest en Centraal-Frankrijk (en)
The European Commission has cleared, under the Merger Regulation, Total's planned acquisition from Gaz de France (GDF) of several gas assets in South-West and Central France, some of which were already jointly owned by Total and GDF. The Commission was able to give the green light after Total undertook to implement a number of measures aimed at ensuring fair and sufficient third party access to its natural gas transmission network and storage facilities in the South-West.
On 20 August 2004 the Commission received notification of a plan whereby Total is to acquire from GDF sole control of a number of gas assets located in South-West and Central France. In the South-West, the assets in question chiefly comprise the company Gaz du Sud Ouest ("GSO"), several natural gas transmission pipelines and the natural gas storage facilities at Izaute (Pyrénées-Atlantiques). In Central France, Total is to take over from Compagnie Française du Méthane ("CFM", a GDF subsidiary) a portfolio of eligible customers and the commercial staff serving them.
Total is a French group operating mainly in the oil and gas industries. Total's gas assets in France chiefly derive from the long-standing positions held by Elf Aquitaine before it was acquired by Total in February 2002.
GSO is a French company active in the transmission and supply of natural gas to eligible customers exclusively in South-West France.
The present transaction forms part of the process of unwinding the cross-shareholdings owned by Total and GDF, the incumbent operator on the gas market in France, in GSO and CFM.
As regards South-West France, the Commission's investigation revealed that the notified transaction raised vertical competition concerns in that it gave Total, via GSO, a strong position on the market in the supply of gas to eligible customers and a monopoly over all the natural gas transmission and storage infrastructures. In view of the limited natural gas transmission and storage capacities available in the region, the Commission considered that the operation would have the effect of increasing Total's incentives and possibilities for restricting third party access to its gas infrastructures in order to safeguard and strengthen its position on the downstream market in the supply of gas to eligible customers.
In order to resolve these competition problems and thus avoid an in-depth investigation, Total offered to implement a number of measures designed to facilitate and ensure fair and sufficient third party access to its natural gas transmission network and storage facilities in GSO's area.
In particular, the commitments will ensure that, where a customer changes supplier, the transmission and storage capacities necessary for supplying that customer are transferred from the old to the new supplier.