EU Clears Bomin-Linde Deal
The European Commission has today announced its approval of a deal between Marquard & Bahls subsidiary Bomin and Linde to create a marine LNG joint venture.
The deal, which was made at the beginning of the month, will see Bomin and Linde create a joint venture to construct the necessary infrastructure to supply the European marine industry with liquefied natural gas (LNG). Under the joint venture, the companies will also seek to open up a supply chain to the marine industry.
The Linde and Bomin joint venture will bulk supply LNG to several marine areas within the European Sulphur Emission Control Area (SECA), the European Commission said today, which includes the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the English Channel.
The companies said earlier this month that the venture would be particularly useful in reducing the emissions of the marine industry, with LNG able to reduce sulphur emissions by 100 per cent, nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 80-85 per cent reduction of nitrogen oxides and CO2 emissions by 20-25 per cent.
In its statement today, the European Commission said that it had approved the new venture under the EU Merger Regulation following an examination of the deal under the simplified merger review procedure.
Linde and Bomin will take a 50 per cent stake each in the joint venture.