• The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) issued an approval for acquisition, by BP Europa, of control over Arge Paliwa and Arge Nieruchomości.
• The Transaction may become effective under the condition that the acquiring company sells two fuel stations in Cieszyn.
• Thanks to this sale, the concentration will cause no threat to the competition.

BP Europe in Poland conducts operations consisting in wholesale and retail sale of fuels. Also Arge Paliwa conducts such operations. Arge Nieruchomości mainly manages, leases and sells its own real estate.

In September 2018, the office referred the matter to II phase of proceedings. – We decided it will be necessary to research the market and verify the data presented by BP Europe in the application for approval of the transaction. We asked about 100 competitors participating in the concentration for their opinions on the acquisition, the level of their sales, and territorial range of their operations - said vice-president of UOKiK, Michał Holeksa.

The received replies showed the area on which fuel stations compete with each other. UOKiK assumed these are the local markets, which e.g. in cities are within the radius of up to 2.5 km or up to 5 km drive on public roads from the station that is being acquired.

The analysis of the collected material showed that the transaction may limit the competition. Therefore, UOKiK decided to formulate concerns regarding concentration. Both BP Europe, and Arge have fuel stations on both sides of S52 expressway in Cieszyn. They are the first that drivers see after entering Poland and the last ones to pass before leaving the country. After conducting the concentration, BP Europe could achieve a dominant position in this market.

In reply to the accusations, the company proposed a condition. According to it, BP Europa will have to sell two fuel stations near Cieszyn. The new owner will be an independent investor. UOKiK accepted the proposal and obliged the entrepreneur to notify the office on fulfilling the condition within 30 days of the date of its fulfilment.

- Thanks to the fulfilment of the condition, the planned concentration will not materially limit competition, in particular by creating or strengthening the dominant position on local retail markets for sale of liquid fuels in Cieszyn – said vice-president of UOKiK, Michał Holeksa.

According to the regulations, a transaction must be reported to the anti-monopoly office if its participants are entrepreneurs who in the previous year generated a total turnover in excess of EUR 1 bn worldwide, or EUR 50 m in Poland. After assessing the concentration, the president of the office may ban the transaction, issue an approval for it, or make the approval conditional on meeting additional conditions by the entrepreneur. The decisions issued are valid for two years. Since 2004, it is the 27^th decision imposing conditions on the party reporting the transaction.

The decision is not final. The reporting party may appeal it in the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection. At the same time, we inform that the Office’s website publishes information on all anti-monopoly proceedings in concentration cases conducted by the Office.

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office 
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw
Phone 695 902 088
E-mail: [SCODE]Yml1cm9wcmFzb3dlQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL