Martijn van de Hel and Mats Reijman filed an appeal to the Rotterdam District Court on behalf of Oliehandel Klaas de Boer against the Authority Consumer & Market's decision that FincoEnergies' proposed acquisition of Klaas de Boer requires a license.
The ACM believes that further investigation is needed into the effects of this concentration due to the fact that both companies supply marine fuels at different ports in the Netherlands. They supply the fuel to different customers, such as fishermen, ferries and towing services. According to the ACM, both companies have a strong presence in the northern ports. Market research indicates that, according to the authority, the so-called "port-bound customers" of gas oil in these ports see few or no alternatives. The ACM argued that the takeover could potentially adversely affect these customers.
Based on their own research, Klaas de Boer disagrees with this analysis. According to Klaas de Boer, the ACM has insufficient evidence of the existence of so-called "port-bound customers". In addition, the ACM has not sufficiently investigated alternative options for these customers and in particular the supply of gas oil using trucks. The ACM has also insufficiently investigated the role and market position of the various "purchasing cooperatives" for fishermen. In addition to this, the ACM has no evidence of the alleged negative effects of the acquisition.
Klaas de Boer believes that if the ACM had sufficiently investigated this case and had weighed the facts correctly it should have concluded that no negative consequences for customers are to be expected and that the ACM therefore should have decided that no license is required for the takeover. Klaas de Boer therefore appealed against the decision in court.
In the meantime, FincoEnergies and Klaas de Boer have applied for a license at the ACM for the proposed acquisition.
Follow Maverick Advocaten on LinkedIn.
