{"id":105993,"date":"2025-07-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T00:00:00","slug":"adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/","title":{"rendered":"Adnoc\u2019s EUR 14.7 bn takeover of Covestro to face anti-subsidies probe"},"content":{"rendered":"

B<\/strong>russels <\/strong>takes hard<\/strong> look at Adnoc\u2019s Covestro buy: <\/strong>The European Commission launched an in-depth probe into Abu Dhabi National Oil Company\u2019s (Adnoc) EUR 14.7 bn<\/a> planned buyout of German chemicals maker Covestro, citing concerns that foreign subsidies from the UAE government may distort competition within the the bloc, it said in a statement<\/a>. The commission has until Tuesday, 2 December to clear, block or impose remedies on the takeover. <\/p>\n

REMEMBER-<\/strong> The potential takeover has been under review for the past few months, after it was briefly suspended in June and <\/span>resumed<\/a> earlier this month.<\/span><\/p>\n

Breaking down the jargon: <\/strong>The probe focuses on whether UAE state support gives Adnoc an unfair edge, first by enabling it to outbid unsubsidized rivals in the acquisition process, and second by potentially allowing the combined Adnoc-Covestro entity to compete on terms not available to EU-based peers, thereby distorting the internal market post-acquisition.<\/p>\n

The move underscores an increasingly cautious stance by EU regulators towards large, <\/strong>state-backed acquisitions from the Middle East.<\/strong> Emirates Telecommunications Group (e&) was also subject to an EU probe last year<\/a> for its acquisition of a controlling stake in PPF Telecom, which later saw the transaction cleared after the telco committed to scrapping an unlimited state guarantee and to not funnel any state funding into PPF\u2019s EU operations without EU review.<\/p>\n

This is in a bid to uphold fair competition standards: <\/strong>The probe is an application of the EU\u2019s new Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), which came into effect in July 2023 to ensure a level playing field for companies operating in the bloc. <\/p>\n

Adnoc is not too concerned: <\/strong>\u201cWhile we respect the European Commission\u2019s process, we contest the preliminary findings of the Commission and are confident that when the facts are fully examined there will be no reason to hold up clearance of a transaction that will add great value for all stakeholders and stimulate European industry,\u201d an Adnoc spokesperson said in a statement cited by Bloomberg<\/a>. The commission has yet to outright block a transaction under the FSR.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next?<\/strong> arm XRG and Covestro are in constructive talks with the European Commission to work towards a conclusion of the review, Covestro said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg.<\/p>\n

Background: <\/strong>The state-owned oil giant\u2019s investment arm XRG secured a 91.3% stake in Covestro following an extended acceptance period<\/a> that ended in December of last year. Adnoc ultimately aims to gain full ownership of the German chemicals company, with the transaction structure enabling a potential squeeze-out of remaining minority shareholders once all regulatory approvals are in place. The acquisition, which secured Covestro management support in November, was due to close in 2H 2025<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The story also got ink in <\/strong>Reuters<\/a><\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The commission has until 2 December to approve, block or condition the transaction<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":105994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2392],"tags":[57,551,7,60,266,2012],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-105993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ma-watch-2","tag-adnoc","tag-covestro","tag-enterpriseam-uae","tag-ma-watch","tag-oil-and-gas","tag-xrg","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"108091a9-8452-4491-ac92-68dc83300068","order":"3","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/559.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"Adnoc\u2019s EUR 14.7 bn takeover of Covestro to face in-depth anti-subsidies EU probe","related_issue":[105988],"teaser":"The commission has until 2 December to approve, block or condition the transaction","voice_url":"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/ent.news\/audio\/2025\/7\/.5217733b-4103-4dbb-8806-7187dcbba365.mp3"},"yoast_head":"\nAdnoc\u2019s EUR 14.7 bn takeover of Covestro to face anti-subsidies probe - UAE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Adnoc\u2019s EUR 14.7 bn takeover of Covestro to face anti-subsidies probe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The commission has until 2 December to approve, block or condition the transaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UAE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-29T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/559.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"enterpriseam admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"enterpriseam admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"enterpriseam admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d\"},\"headline\":\"Adnoc\u2019s EUR 14.7 bn takeover of Covestro to face anti-subsidies probe\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-29T00:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/\"},\"wordCount\":461,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/559.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"Adnoc\",\"Covestro\",\"EnterpriseAM UAE\",\"M&A WATCH\",\"oil and gas\",\"XRG\"],\"articleSection\":[\"M&A WATCH\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/\",\"name\":\"Adnoc\u2019s EUR 14.7 bn takeover of Covestro to face anti-subsidies probe - UAE\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/559.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-29T00:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/559.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/559.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Adnoc\u2019s EUR 14.7 bn takeover of Covestro to face anti-subsidies probe\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/\",\"name\":\"UAE\",\"description\":\"The State of the Nation\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UAE\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg\",\"caption\":\"UAE\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d\",\"name\":\"enterpriseam admin\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/enterpriseam.testing.projectsarea.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/author\/enterpriseam\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Adnoc\u2019s EUR 14.7 bn takeover of Covestro to face anti-subsidies probe - UAE","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Adnoc\u2019s EUR 14.7 bn takeover of Covestro to face anti-subsidies probe","og_description":"The commission has until 2 December to approve, block or condition the transaction","og_url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/","og_site_name":"UAE","article_published_time":"2025-07-29T00:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/559.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"enterpriseam admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"enterpriseam admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/"},"author":{"name":"enterpriseam admin","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d"},"headline":"Adnoc\u2019s EUR 14.7 bn takeover of Covestro to face anti-subsidies probe","datePublished":"2025-07-29T00:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/"},"wordCount":461,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/559.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","keywords":["Adnoc","Covestro","EnterpriseAM UAE","M&A WATCH","oil and gas","XRG"],"articleSection":["M&A WATCH"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/","url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/","name":"Adnoc\u2019s EUR 14.7 bn takeover of Covestro to face anti-subsidies probe - UAE","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/559.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","datePublished":"2025-07-29T00:00:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/559.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/559.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/07\/29\/adnocs-eur-14-7-bn-takeover-of-covestro-to-face-anti-subsidies-probe\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Adnoc\u2019s EUR 14.7 bn takeover of Covestro to face anti-subsidies probe"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website","url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/","name":"UAE","description":"The State of the Nation","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization","name":"UAE","url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg","caption":"UAE"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d","name":"enterpriseam admin","sameAs":["http:\/\/enterpriseam.testing.projectsarea.com"],"url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/author\/enterpriseam\/"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/559.jpg?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/559.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"enterpriseam admin","author_link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/author\/enterpriseam\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/7\/559.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105993\/revisions"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue\/105988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105993"},{"taxonomy":"brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/brand?post=105993"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=105993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}