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What goes on in Poland on the 25th of October.
Stop The Clock procedure
Orlen hopes that by the end of the first quarter of 2020, the European Commission will have responded to the proposal of remedies, after which it will be possible to acquire the Lotos Group.
At the beginning of the week, PKN Orlen president Daniel Obajtek announced the submission of remedial conditions proposals regarding the merger with the Lotos Group to the European Commission.
– We continue to operate within the assumed schedule. Thanks to the “Stop The Clock” procedure, we have gained time to gather additional information, and the EC will have more time to analyze it before making the final decision – said Wiesław Protasewicz, board member at PKN Orlen, during a press conference summarizing the group’s results for the third quarter of 2019 year.
He noted that Orlen cannot name them. – This is a company secret. The proposal has been submitted. According to our assessment, it is acceptable to the European Commission. We will see what answer we get – he added.
– It’s a complicated process. The Lotos capital acquisition process is running smoothly. We want to submit remedies as soon as possible. This is a beneficial solution. We are sure of our arguments. This is a signal that the Commission is interested in careful analysis – he said.
At the end of September, the European Commission launched the “Stop The Clock” procedure. It is used in the in-depth analysis phase, especially in the case of complicated capital acquisitions. – It’s standard procedure. Thanks to it, we have gained more time to gather additional information, and the EC will have more time to analyze it before making the final decision – said Protasewicz.
The process of the capital acquisition of Grupa Lotos by PKN Orlen began in February 2018. At that time, a letter of intent was signed with the Treasury, which in Lotos holds 53,19 percent of votes at the general meeting of shareholders. Two months later, a due diligence process began to examine the commercial, financial, legal and tax status of the acquisition. The initial version of the application for consent to the concentration was submitted in November last year. The final application was received in July this year.
