International Petroleum Investment Company “IPIC”, the investment arm of the government of Abu Dhabi, has won EU approval on to acquire the portion of Spanish refiner Compania Espanola de Petroleos “Cepsa” it did not already own for US$5.35bn from French oil company Total.
The wholly-owned Abu Dhabi government fund, which held a 47% stake in Cepsa prior to the deal, is making the acquisition to extend its refining capacity.
Cepsa has oil and gas production interests in Algeria, Colombia, Egypt and Peru.
The European Commission, the EU competition watchdog, said the deal would not hamper rivals.
“After examining the operation, the Commission concluded that the merged entity would face effective competitors and that the transaction would have no effect on the merged entities’ incentives to coordinate their behaviour,” the EU executive said in a statement.
Last February, IPIC said that it will offer $5.47 billion for the 48.83% shares of Total’s shares in the refinery. “In the context of the takeover offer, Total has irrevocably agreed to sell its 48.83% share in Cepsa to IPIC. The transaction is conditional on obtaining requisite competition law approval,” IPIC said in a statement.
Cepsa is the second-largest Spanish petroleum concern after Repsol.
