Global law firm White & Case LLP has successfully represented MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas plc (MOL) in obtaining regulatory clearance from the European Commission for its acquisition of ENI Hungaria Zrt. (ENI Hungaria) and ENI Slovenija druzba za trzenje z naftnimi derivati, d.o.o. (ENI Slovenija).

MOL, an integrated oil and gas company active across the entire crude oil and natural gas value chain, agreed in Autumn 2015 to buy from ENI S.p.A the companies ENI Hungaria and ENI Slovenija, which own 183 filing stations in Hungary and 17 stations in Slovenia (including dealer owned sites), operated under the Eni and Agip brands, as well as ex-refinery and non-retail operations of these companies in Hungary and Slovenia (ENI Hungaria's lubricants wholesale business was excluded from the transaction).

MOL filed the deal for merger review in Brussels on February 29, 2016 and the Commission cleared the deal on April 7, concluding that the acquisition would not raise competition concerns given the competitive conditions in the relevant markets.

The White & Case team in Brussels which advised on the transaction was led by partner Mark Powell with support from associate Strati Sakellariou.