Nicosia: The agreement involving French investment group Meridiam becoming the majority shareholder in Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) has not been formally notified to the European Commission for a merger review, an EU spokesperson informed CNA.
According to Cyprus News Agency, the European Commission spokesperson stated, "This transaction has not been formally notified to the Commission. If a transaction constitutes a merger and has an EU dimension, it is always up to the companies to notify it to the Commission." This response was given on Thursday to a relevant inquiry.
The deal, under which Meridiam acquires a 66% stake in GSI, which is the special purpose vehicle responsible for developing the Greece-Cyprus electricity interconnector, was formalized on Wednesday at the Maximos Mansion in Athens. Greece's Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) maintains the remaining 34% ownership. In conjunction with this, a related three-way agreement involving IPTO, GSI, and Nexans concerning seabed survey work was also signed.