By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Abu Dhabi state oil giant ADNOC on Thursday slammed EU antitrust regulators for what it said are disproportionate and invasive requests for information in their subsidy investigation into its 14.7 billion euro ($17 billion) bid for Germany’s Covestro.
It warned such regulatory demands may even jeopardise the acquisition.
The criticism came after the European Commission, which acts as the EU competition watchdog, said on Wednesday it had temporarily halted its investigation while it waits for ADNOC to provide requested information.
“We are deeply disappointed by today’s decision. The Commission’s demands have strayed far beyond what is reasonable or relevant to this transaction, crossing into areas that are both disproportionate and invasive,” a spokesperson for XRG, the international investment arm of ADNOC, said in an email.
“While we remain committed to pursuing a constructive path forward, the continuation of such an approach raises serious questions about the viability of this investment,” he said.
The Commission will set a new deadline for its decision once the investigation resumes. The previous deadline was December 2.
“In FSR reviews, once the legal deadline is activated by the notification of a concentration, the Commission can stop the clock if it doesn’t receive, in a timely fashion, a material piece of information requested from the parties,” a Commission spokesperson said, referring to the Foreign Subsidies Regulation.
The EU probe focuses on possible subsidies granted by the United Arab Emirates, including an unlimited guarantee as well as a committed capital increase by ADNOC into chemicals company Covestro.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Jan Harvey)
