WIREDGOV

The European Commission has cleared unconditionally under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa by Siemens. The Commission found that the transaction raises no competition concerns, because a number of credible competitors would remain in the market.

The Commission has investigated the impact of the proposed transaction on the onshore and offshore wind turbine markets, where the activities of Siemens and Gamesa overlap:

• The onshore wind turbine market is rather fragmented with several large competitors even after the merger.
• The offshore wind turbine market is more concentrated with Siemens and MHI Vestas being the main competitors. Gamesa is also active in the market through its subsidiary Adwen. However, as the investigation confirmed that Adwen is not a competitive constraint on Siemens, it is unlikely that the transaction will appreciably change the competitive situation.

The Commission therefore concluded that the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns.

Companies and products

Gamesa is a publicly listed company in Spain. Gamesa is primarily active in the supply of onshore wind turbines but also in the sale of offshore wind turbines through its wholly owned subsidiary, Adwen Offshore SL.

Siemens is a publicly listed company in Germany. Siemens is active in a number of industrial areas including the supply of onshore and offshore wind turbines and its components such as generators, gearboxes and switchgears through its Wind Power and Renewables division.

Merger control rules and procedures

The transaction was notified to the Commission on 6 February 2017, and examined under the normal merger review procedure.

The Commission has the duty to assess mergers and acquisitions involving companies with a turnover above certain thresholds (see Article 1 of the Merger Regulation) and to prevent concentrations that would significantly impede effective competition in the EEA or any substantial part of it.

The vast majority of notified mergers do not pose competition problems and are cleared after a routine review. From the moment a transaction is notified, the Commission generally has a total of 25 working days to decide whether to grant approval (Phase I) or to start an in-depth investigation (Phase II).

More information will be available on the competition website, in the Commission's public case register under the case number M.8134.

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• Maria TSONI (+32 2 299 05 26)

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