1.   

On 24 January 2019, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).

This notification concerns the following undertakings:

—	LetterOne Holdings (‘LetterOne’, Luxembourg),

—	BASF S.E. (‘BASF’, Germany),

—	Wintershall DEA, which will be jointly controlled by LetterOne and BASF.

LetterOne and BASF acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Wintershall DEA.

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares in a newly created company constituting a joint venture.

2.   

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—   for LetterOne: a private investment holding company focusing on investments in the energy sector. LetterOne owns DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, an international exploration and production company for oil and gas,

—   for BASF: mainly active in the chemical sector, with a portfolio split into chemicals, performance products, functional materials and solutions, agricultural solutions and oil and gas. BASF owns Wintershall Holding GmbH which is active in the exploration and production of oil and gas inter alia in Europe,

—   for Wintershall DEA: will combine Wintershall’s and DEA’s business and be principally active in the exploration and production of oil and gas and, to a limited extent, in gas transportation.

3.   

On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved.

4.   

The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.

Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. The following reference should always be specified:

M.8773 — LetterOne/BASF/Wintershall DEA

Observations can be sent to the Commission by email, by fax, or by post. Please use the contact details below:

Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu

Fax +32 22964301

Postal address:

European Commission

Directorate-General for Competition

Merger Registry

1049 Bruxelles/Brussel

BELGIQUE/BELGIË