1.   

On 17 August 2020, 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:

—	INEOS Group (‘INEOS’, UK),

—	BP Chemicals Business (UK).

INEOS acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the whole of BP Chemicals Business.

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.

2.   

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—	INEOS: global manufacturer of petrochemicals, speciality chemicals and oil products,

—	BP Chemicals Business: the acetyls business, the aromatics business and the related licensing business and certain other assets of the BP Group.

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.9883 – INEOS/BP Chemicals Business

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