Trade Competition Commission to deliberate on Bangchak/Esso merger
The Office of Trade Competition Commission (OTCC) is to meet on Monday (May 22) to deliberate on the proposed merger of petroleum companies Bangchak Corporation Plc (BCP) and Esso (Thailand) Ltd.
Monday’s meeting will be the first of three to explore whether the merger is beneficial to society, does not adversely affect competitors, and maintains fair trade competition for all parties. The result of the deliberations is expected to be delivered in June.
In January this year, BCP informed the Stock Exchange of Thailand that its board of directors had approved the acquisition of a 65.99% stake worth 55 billion baht in Esso Thailand mainly from ExxonMobil Asia Holdings Pte. The deal is expected to be completed in the second half of this year.
Praipol Koomsup, chairman of OTCC’s subcommittee overseeing the BCP-Esso case, said on Thursday that the subcommittee has nearly finished studying the information submitted by the parties. The information includes the merger plan and schedule, shareholder structure, production capacity, number of refineries, sales, financial status, and market share.
The subcommittee will also use case studies of mergers between energy companies overseas as a reference, such as the Norsk Hydro ASA and ExxonMobil mergers in the US and Europe.
The results of deliberations by trade competition authorities differed in these cases, ranging from approved, not approved, and approved with conditions, Praipol said.
The Trade Competition Act of 2017 stipulates that any mergers with combined sales of over 1 billion baht must be approved by the OTCC.
