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Exxon, Mobil confirm approval of merger by European Commission Companies must divest assets in certain market segments including gasoline stations, fuels, lubricant base oil manufacturing, pipeline capacity Petroleum News Alaska
Exxon Corp. and Mobil Corp. confirmed Sept. 29 that the European Commission has approved the merger of the two companies. The companies said they have accepted the terms and conditions included in the agreement with the commission and will comply with them fully and on a timely basis.
Under the European Commission conditions, the companies must divest of assets in certain market segments, but will retain other current businesses in those segments. Those include:
Divestitures required — Mobil selling its 28 percent interest in the German joint venture marketing company Aral, which operates a large chain of gasoline stations primarily in Germany. The merged company will retain the retail fuels business of Esso in Central Europe.
— Mobil selling its 30 percent interest in the BP/Mobil joint venture fuels businesses in Europe. The merged company, through the existing Esso brand, will retain its current leading position in the European fuels market.
— The two companies selling a portion of their lubricant base oil manufacturing capacity in Europe. The merged company will retain a significant lubricant base oil manufacturing capacity in Europe and will remain the worldwide industry leader in this business segment.
Some pipeline capacity must be sold — Mobil selling certain pipeline capacity serving Gatwick Airport. The merged company will continue to sell aviation fuels to airports it currently serves, including Gatwick.
— Exxon selling the assets associated with its worldwide commercial airline synthetics turbine lubricants business. The merged company will retain Mobil’s worldwide synthetic aviation turbine lubricants business, as well as Exxon’s remaining aviation lubricants businesses.
— Changes affecting natural gas marketing in Europe: Divestiture of Mobil’s Dutch gas trading company, Megas; Exxon selling its 25 percent interest in Thyssengas, a gas distribution company in the western part of Germany; Mobil reducing its voting rights in Erdgas Munster, a gas transmission and marketing company in Germany; and Mobil making available for sale one or more potential underground storage facilities in Bavaria. The gas producing assets of both companies in Europe are unaffected by the Commission’s ruling.
EC approval a major step Exxon Chairman Lee Raymond said, “Approval of the merger by the European Commission is a major step towards completion of the merger. We appreciate the efforts of the European Commission and the Merger Task Force to complete their review of the merger.” Exxon and Mobil said that the review of the merger by the European Commission was among the most detailed ever undertaken by the Commission.
The companies said that discussions are continuing with both the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and with the states’ attorneys general. The companies said that the objective of these discussions is to enable the FTC to complete promptly its review of the merger.
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