en.Wedoany.com Reported - The European Commission has approved the joint acquisition of a controlling stake in France's Teréga by the international subsidiary of Spain's Enagás and Italy's SNAM, concluding that the transaction will not negatively impact the European Economic Area.

The EU executive body found that the notified transaction does not raise competition concerns, as the companies do not operate in the same market and are not vertically linked. The case was submitted to Brussels on June 16 and has been reviewed under the simplified procedure applicable to less complex cases.

Teréga is the second-largest natural gas transmission and storage system operator (TSO) in France, covering the southwestern region. The company operates approximately 5,100 kilometers of pipelines and two underground storage facilities, accounting for about 16% of France's natural gas transmission network and 27% of the country's storage capacity.

Teréga's network is connected to Enagás' network via two international interconnections. The stake in the French company aims to strengthen cooperation on projects such as H2Med and BarMar (the Spain-France hydrogen pipeline). Through this transaction, Enagás will become the second-largest shareholder in Teréga, which is France's second-largest gas operator, behind SNAM (40.5%) and ahead of French state-owned company EDF (18%) and Crédit Agricole (10%), the company stated when announcing the acquisition agreement last April.