EU approves Statoil takeover of Shell's fuel business in Denmark
The European Commission has approved the acquisition of Shell's Danish retail and wholesale fuels business, Dansk Fuels, by Alimentation Couche-Tard of Canada.
Couche-Tard operates in Denmark under the Statoil brand via its subsidiary Statoil Fuel and Retail ("SFR"). The company will have to make a series of disinvestments over 200 petrol stations and Shell's commercial fuels business to get the Commission’s approval.
The Commission had concerns that the merger as initially notified could have led to higher prices for fuel, diesel, gasoline and light heating oil customers in Denmark.
The transaction combines the fuel businesses of number 1 and 2 on the Danish wholesale markets and number 1 and 3 on the petrol station market in Denmark. The Commission had concerns that the remaining players would be unable to exercise a sufficient competitive constraint on the merged entity to avoid price rises at petrol stations and for wholesale customers.
