EU Clears Total's Move on French Retailer

The European Commission said July 3 it has cleared Total's takeover of French energy retailer Direct Energie, which also generates power.

The commission concluded that the merger would not raise competition concerns because of horizontal overlaps and very limited vertical relationships between the two companies in France and Belgium.

Total announced April 18 it had agreed with shareholders who control 74.33% of Direct Energie to buy the company for €1.4bn ($1.73bn).

Direct Energie has installed capacity of 1.35 GW, comprising 800 MW of gas-fired power plant and 550 MW of renewable electricity, as well as a 400-MW gas-fired power plant under construction. These will supplement Total’s 900 MW installed capacity.  Direct has over 2.6mn mostly residential customers mainly in France but some in Belgium and last year its revenue was just under €2bn.

A number of European oil and gas firms including Shell, Eni and – the most recent to announce – Spain's Repsol have been buying energy retail assets. Two UK retailers are planning to merge. Meanwhile in Germany, E.ON in March announced plans to acquire RWE-run subsidiary Innogy, including its retail activities, in a massive multi-billion-euro shake-up of that country's energy scene.