European Commission approves acquisition of US energy company by General Electric

European Commission approves acquisition of US energy company by General Electric

2011-01-05 01:37:48 GMT+7 (ICT)

BRUSSELS (BNO NEWS) -- The European Commission on Tuesday approved the acquisition of the U.S. energy company, Dresser Holdings, by General Electric Company (GE).

General Electric, also based in the United States, proposed the acquisition and was then examined by the European Union Merger Regulation. The Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA).

The Commission launched an investigation on the merger which showed that the horizontal overlaps between the activities of GE and Dresser are limited. That means that the merger will continue facing several strong competitors.

The competition is particularly strong in the generator sets for power generation with gas engines industry. The Commission also determined that no other businesses would face risk of being closed off due to the new joint venture.

In the merged entity’s enlarged product range in the oil and gas there are currently alternative and competing sources of supply within the European Economic Area.

GE is a global, diversified manufacturing, technology and services company with five primary business units, including: GE Energy, GE Technology Infrastructure, GE Capital, GE Home & Business Solutions and NBC Universal.

Dresser Holdings is a business in the provision of energy infrastructure, oil and gas products and services. It has six main product lines, namely control valves, natural gas solutions, pressure relief and safety valves, measurement systems, compression and power systems, and air and gas handling.

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