OLYMPIC - AEGEAN (Fusion : OA ! OAL ! / A3 ! AEE ! )

Initial investigations into the proposal point to "serious competition concerns", says the Commission, particularly on the domestic market but also on several international routes.

It has chosen to open a 90-day in-depth inquiry into the agreement in order to assess the effects of the partnership.
"The Commission must make sure that consumers and businesses will continue to have a competitive choice of airline services in Greece," says European competition vice-president Joaquin Almunia, "in particular at a time of difficult economic circumstances."

Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines notified the Commission formally of their merger plan on 24 June.
While the competition situation on Greek routes is under scrutiny, the Commission says it also has "serious doubts" that the tie-up meets requirements regarding provision of public service obligation routes and ground-handling at Greek airports.
With regard to the PSO routes the merger would "bring together the two strongest and most credible bidders", it states. The inquiry is set to conclude by 7 December by which time the Commission will decide whether the merger poses a threat to competition.

EU regulators blocked the proposed merger of Greece's Aegean Airlines and Olympic, the first veto in more than three years, saying a tie-up would have resulted in higher prices for consumers.

Procès d'intention ?

The last deal to be blocked also involved airlines, when the European Commission stopped Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair acquiring local rival Aer Lingus in June 2007 because it would have meant less choice and higher prices.

Aegean and Olympic, which control more than 90 percent of the Greek air market, had not offered sufficient remedies to ease competition concerns, the EU watchdog said.

"The merger between Aegean and Olympic would have led to a quasi-monopoly in Greece and thus to higher prices and lower quality of service for Greeks and tourists travelling between Athens and the (Greek) islands," EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said.

Aviation and shipping services are crucial for Greeks and tourists because of the country's more than 1,400 islands. Tourism receipts, a key money earner for recession-hit Greece, fell last year as anti-austerity protests discouraged visitors.
The firms offered to cede take-off and landing slots in Greece, but the Commission said this was not enough, as Greek airports do not suffer from the levels of congestion affecting others in Europe.
The carriers rejected suggestions they should give up part of their fleet or one of their two brand names to new entrants, Almunia told a news briefing.

Aegean said the brand name proposal was unacceptable.
"We did not accept conceding one of the two brands or part of the fleet as a remedy, this does not have a precedent in the history of airline mergers," Aegean's vice-chairman Eftyhios Vassilakis said.
"The brand names have a huge value, we built ours with hard work during the last 12 years (Aegean) and so did Olympic in the last 50 years."

Olympic owner Marfin Investment Group criticised the Commission's decision.
"The Commission's decision will have negative consequences for consumers as well as our country's economy while it will benefit foreign competitors," Marfin chairman Andreas Vgenopoulos said in a statement.

(Reuters)

Réactions ?

The European Commission blocked a merger between Aegean Airways and Olympic Air, concluding that the proposed tie-up would have resulted in a “quasi-monopoly on the Greek air transport market.”

The EC opened an antitrust probe into the proposed combination last August ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]). “We took this decision to protect consumers,” EC VP-Competition Joaquin Almunia said Wednesday, noting that the merger would have “led to higher fares for air passengers in Greece, both Greek and European, and possibly a service of lower quality.”

The EC acknowledged it did not find significant competition problems on short-haul international routes; however, its investigation showed that together the duo controls more than 90% of the Greek domestic air transport market and there were “no realistic prospects that a new airline of a sufficient size would enter the routes and restrain the merged entity's pricing.”

cted the interests of the four million consumers that use the routes.” She pointed out that “prohibition decisions are never easy to take. This is only the third such decision in over six years." The last also involved two airlines based at the same airport: Ryanair's attempted hostile takeover of Aer Lingus ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]).

The carriers offered substantial remedies, including the release of slots at Athens and other Greek airports, to obtain a clearance for the merger, which they see as essential to survive in view of Greece’s depressed economic situation and the small size of the market. But the “nature and the scope of these remedies were insufficient to ensure that customers would not be harmed by the transaction. This is notably because the main problem in this case—unlike in many previous airline cases—was not the availability of slots, which are available at Athens airport and at most Greek airports,” the EC reasoned.

Commenting on the EC’s decision, Aegean Chairman Theodore Vassilakis said that “an important opportunity for a consolidated representation in the European aviation market has been lost. We will adjust and continue. Our track record shows that we can succeed through challenging times.”
“The EC decision will have negative consequences for consumers as well as our country’s economy while it will benefit foreign competitors,” warned Marfin Investment Group Chairman Andreas Vgenopoulos. Marfin owns Olympic. The two agreed to a merger in February 2010.
The companies said they will review the EC decision before deciding on possible further actions.

Réactions ?

Toricks a écrit:Du dogme....?

Qui veut, en effet, investir en Grèce, dans le transport, aujourd'hui !

La participation de MIG dans Olympic n'avait de sens que si une fusion avec Aegean était réalisée. Une fusion qui ne soit pas trop vidée de sa substance, dans un pays qui est en faillite.