Bundeskartellamt welcomes planned sale of Thüga by E.ON

In response to enquiries the Bundeskartellamt announces that it welcomes E.ON AG’s considerations, which were confirmed today, to sell its shares in Thüga AG, as this would be greatly conducive to creating competitive structures in the energy sector.

With Thüga AG several German utilities and regional providers with annual gas and electricity sales in multi-billions would be removed from E.ON’s area of influence, among them leading energy suppliers with their own electricity generating capacities and national market presence. Such a measure will bring pressure to bear on one of the greatest obstacles to competition which has constantly been exposed in the past by the Bundeskartellamt, Monopolies Commission and courts, namely the high level of integration at the distribution level. As a consequence of this integration, alternative energy suppliers are hindered in their access to re-distributor customers in Germany and competition for end customers remains limited.

The sale of E.ON’s share in Thüga will not eliminate the dominant position of the E.ON group on all markets. However, in view of such voluntary divestment measures the competitive assessment of its dominance under abuse control aspects will be reviewed in due time.