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MyFerryLink under threat following latest ruling
MyFerryLink is under threat of closure after the latest ruling by the Competition Commission.
In a provisional ruling on Friday, the Commission confirmed it believes Eurotunnel’s acquisition of three ferries formerly belonging to SeaFrance could have broken merger-control rules designed to protect against monopolies.
It concluded Eurotunnel had essentially taken over the running of SeaFrance when it bought the three vessels after it went into administration in April 2012.
The Channel Tunnel operator then launched MyFerryLink in August 2012, run by 560 ex-SeaFrance staff, known as SCOP SeaFrance.
The Competition Commission will make a final judgement in May.
Eurotunnel said: "Groupe Eurotunnel cannot understand how it is possible to acquire a company six months after it has ceased to exist and nine months after the closure of all operations.
"Groupe Eurotunnel emphasises that over the past two years the market has in no way been negatively affected by MyFerryLink.
"To conclude, if prior to its final decision the Competition Commission does not wish to review its perspective on the competition which exists across the Strait of Dover in the light of the current reality, and not based on suppositions from two years ago, Groupe Eurotunnel will withdraw its ferries from the Channel."
Competition Commission deputy chairman Alasdair Smith said: "It is our provisional view that Eurotunnel in effect acquired a business that was already geared up to run a ferry service between Dover and Calais, using assets that had been proven in practice to be suitable for that activity.
"We found that the commercial operability of the assets had not been greatly affected by SeaFrance’s liquidation."
In its original decision, published in June last year, the Competition Commission decided that by adding ferries to its existing Channel Tunnel business, Eurotunnel would increase its cross-Channel market share to over half.
But Eurotunnel and SCOP SeaFrance launched a legal challenge, which forced the commission to re-look at whether it had the right to rule on the case.
Dover to Calais operators P&O Ferries and DFDS originally complained to the Office of Fair Trading when Eurotunnel launched MyFerryLink.
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