Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 15, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleADNOC seeks EU approval for its 14.7-billion-euro acquisition of Covestro, marking its largest investment to date and highlighting Middle East diversification.
By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi state oil giant ADNOC on Thursday sought EU approval under the bloc's foreign subsidies rules for its 14.7-billion-euro ($16.4 billion) acquisition of German chemicals company Covestro, according to a filing on the European Commission site.
ADNOC, which last week won the green light under EU merger rules for the deal, is making its biggest ever acquisition, underscoring Middle East countries' diversification of their investments to reduce their dependence on oil.
The EU's Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) takes aim at unfair foreign aid for companies with the goal of reining in competition from non-EU companies subsidised by their governments.
The European Commission, which acts as the antitrust regulator for the 27-country bloc, set a June 24 deadline for its decision.
It can open a full-scale investigation after 25 working days if it has serious concerns. Such a so-called in-depth probe would take 90 working days, which can be extended by 3 weeks if companies offer remedies to address concerns.
Last year, a bid by UAE telecoms group e& for parts of Czech telecoms company PPF's assets was only cleared after it offered to remove an unlimited state guarantee and agreed not to provide foreign subsidies to the merged entity.
The case was the first full-scale probe under the FSR.
($1 = 0.8945 euros)
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
The main topic is ADNOC seeking EU approval for its acquisition of Covestro under foreign subsidies rules.
It is ADNOC's largest acquisition, highlighting Middle East efforts to diversify investments beyond oil.
The FSR aims to control unfair foreign aid and competition from non-EU companies.
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