The European Commission has approved the acquisition of E.ON's renewable and nuclear power generation assets by RWE under the EU Merger Regulation. It concluded that the announced transaction between the two German utilities would neither hinder effective competition in the generation and wholesale supply of electricity in the European Economic Area nor affect RWE's ability to influence retail market prices. Meanwhile, the acquisition of RWE’s distribution and retail business by E.ON is being assessed separately by the European Commission and is currently under review. The provisional deadline of this second case is expected for March 2019.
RWE filed the acquisition of E.ON's renewable and nuclear energy business with the European Commission at the end of January 2019. The investigation was launched in February 2019 in order to get an accurate picture of its potential consequences under the EU competition rules. According to the transaction, RWE will receive a 16.67% stake in E.ON, take over E.ON's entire renewable energy businesses and E.ON's minority interests in the Emsland and Gundremmingen nuclear power plants operated by RWE as well as Innogy’s gas storage business and its stake in the Austrian power utility Kelag. In exchange, E.ON will acquire 76.8% of RWE's subsidiary Innogy, which was set up in 2016 by splitting the renewable power generation, gas and power network and retail businesses into a separate entity. Upon completion of the agreement, E.ON will focus on electricity and gas distribution and retail networks, while RWE will focus on upstream electricity generation and wholesale markets. The two companies intend to complete the transaction objectives in the second half of 2019.