Competition Bureau will not challenge acquisition of Veresen by Pembina

News release

September 26, 2018 – OTTAWA, ON – Competition Bureau

The Competition Bureau confirms that it has concluded its review of Pembina Pipeline Corporation’s acquisition of Veresen Inc., which closed on October 2, 2017. After careful consideration of the evidence, the Interim Commissioner of Competition will not be filing an application under section 92 of the Competition Act.

Prior to the merger, Pembina and Veresen both provided pipeline processing and transportation of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs) in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB). NGLs are heavy hydrocarbons found in natural gas. Common NGLs include ethane, propane, butane and pentane.

The Bureau conducted an extensive review of the evidence to assess whether the merger would likely result in a substantial lessening or prevention of competition in the market for ethane transportation in Western Canada.  

While the transaction raised competition concerns that were thoroughly reviewed and considered, the Interim Commissioner determined that the evidence available was insufficient to support challenging the transaction before the Competition Tribunal. The evidence that informed this decision was based on interviews and documents collected from over 40 market participants, as well as that obtained from thousands of documents from the merging parties, outside expert analysis and submissions from third parties.

Given the concentrated nature of the ethane industry, the Bureau cannot provide further details about ‎the evidence it gathered and its analysis. Therefore, the Bureau will not be publishing a position statement on this matter.

Quick facts

  • Pembina is a publicly-traded pipeline transportation and midstream service provider for North America’s energy industry. Pembina owns and operates an integrated system of pipelines that transport various hydrocarbon liquids in Western Canada and Northwestern USA.

  • The Commissioner’s decision in this matter is consistent with the Bureau’s policy of making enforcement decisions based on thorough assessment of the evidence gathered during a review.

  • Analytical methodologies are applied and enforcement decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. The legal requirements set out in the Competition Act, including in section 29, limit the Bureau’s ability to disclose information obtained during the course of a merger review. For more information, please see the Bureau’s Information Bulletin on the Communication of Confidential Information Under the Competition Act.

Contacts

For media enquiries, please contact:
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Telephone: 819-994-5945
Email: media-cb-bc@cb-bc.gc.ca

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Competition Bureau
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Toll free: 1-800-348-5358
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