Abu Dhabi state oil giant ADNOC criticised the European Commission’s antitrust investigators for issuing what it described as excessive and intrusive information demands in their examination of its €14.7 billion bid for Covestro. The company cautioned that such regulatory pressure could endanger the takeover.
Under the EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation, the Commission is scrutinising whether ADNOC benefited from unfair advantages—such as an unlimited UAE government guarantee and a committed capital injection—to secure terms not available to unsubsidised investors. These conditions have raised concerns over competition distortions within the internal market. The probe began in July, though the Commission had earlier granted unconditional antitrust approval in May, stating the acquisition posed no competition risk in affected markets.
The investigation is currently paused, as the Commission awaits additional information from ADNOC before setting a new decision deadline. The original deadline stood at December 2. ADNOC’s international investment arm, XRG, expressed being “deeply disappointed”, asserting that the regulators’ demands “strayed far beyond what is reasonable or relevant to this transaction, crossing into areas that are both disproportionate and invasive.” The company added that if such an approach persists, it may threaten the deal’s viability as per the ADNOC warns EU demands could undermine acquisition warning.
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