Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: EC approves French rail firm’s acquisition of Channel Tunnel rail operator, (May 13, 2015)

French rail operator SNCF MOBILITÉS has been granted conditional approval to acquire sole control of Eurostar International Limited, which provides rail services through the Channel Tunnel between the UK, France, and Belgium, the European Commission announced today.

Eurostar, established in 2010, has been jointly controlled by SNCF MOBILITÉS and the UK Government, with a minority share held by SNCB, the Belgian national railway company. Under the planned deal, SNCF would gain sole control of Eurostar (case number M.7449).

Initially, the Commission was concerned that the deal, as originally proposed, might hinder the entry of competitors into the London-Paris and London-Brussels routes, thereby perpetuating Eurostar’s dominant position on these markets. The serious doubts relating to access to stations in France and Belgium and to maintenance centers in France, Belgium, and the UK are the same as those raised when Eurostar was set up in 2010. This situation could have had the result of limiting the choice of services available to passengers.

In order to resolve the Commission’s competition concerns, Eurostar, SNCF MOBILITÉS and SNCB offered commitments designed to ensure that any new entrant would have fair and nondiscriminatory access to:

1. Standard and cross-Channel areas and services, such as ticket offices, passenger information services and cross-Channel areas in stations in France and Belgium currently managed by SNCF and SNCB;

2. Maintenance centers in France, the UK and Belgium currently managed by SNCF, Eurostar and SNCB for services such as overnight storage, servicing and cleaning of trains and light maintenance;

3. Train paths currently used by Eurostar at peak times, should a new entrant not be able to obtain such access through the usual procedure for path allocation by the infrastructure managers.

The Commission takes the view that the commitments offered reduce the barriers to entry for new operators seeking to offer international rail passenger transport services on the London-Paris and London-Brussels routes. The Commission has therefore concluded that the planned merger, as modified by the commitments, does not raise any competition concerns. The decision is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments.

Companies: SNCF MOBILITÉS; Eurostar International Limited; SNCB

News: AcquisitionsMergers Antitrust