EAC COMPETITION AUTHORITY MERGER INQUIRY NOTICE NO. 14 OF 2026.
THE PROPOSED ACQUISITION OF CONTROL OVER EUROPCAR MOBILITY GROUP S.A. BY VOLKSWAGEN AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
It is hereby notified in terms of Regulation 8 of the EAC Competition (Mergers and Acquisitions) Regulations, 2025 (the Regulations) that the EAC Competition Authority (the Authority) after receiving a notification in terms of Section 11 of the East African Community Competition Act, 2006 (the Act) involving Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft (Volkswagen) and Europcar Mobility Group S.A. (Europcar) intends to embark on an inquiry in terms of Part IV of the Act and Part III of the Regulations.
The proposed transaction entails the proposed acquisition of sole control over Europcar by Volkswagen by way of acquisition of shares.
The Parties submitted that the VW Group is active worldwide in the development, manufacture, marketing and sale of passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, trucks, buses, coaches, chassis for buses and diesel engines, motorbikes, each including spare parts and accessories. The VW Group is also active in vehicle distribution. The VW Group includes the following brands Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Škoda, SEAT/CUPRA, Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Porsche, MAN, Scania, and Ducati. Also, through Everllence (formerly MAN Energy Solutions), the VW Group is active in delivering sustainable and efficient solutions for marine, energy, and industrial sectors, including power generation, heat pumps, industrial processes, and marine propulsion. In the Community, the Acquiring Group operates in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania.
The Parties have also submitted that the target undertaking, Europcar offers a wide range of mobility-related services, in particular car rental but also vans and, to a much more limited extent, trucks rental and car-sharing. In addition, the Europcar group is active, to a minor extent, in the sale of used cars. Europcar is present worldwide through a network of around 130 countries, among which 14 countries with corporate stations and other countries across the world through franchisees, and had an average fleet of around 269,000 vehicles in 2025.
In the Community Market, Europcar is active via independent franchisees who enter into franchise agreements with Europcar in exchange for royalty fees for the use of the Europcar brand and access to Europcar’s systems for the operation and management of a car rental business by the franchisee. We are informed by the Parties that the franchisees own, operate and manage the car rental businesses independently in the Community Market.
The Authority shall, in accordance with the provisions of the Act and Regulations, determine, among other things, whether or not the merger is likely to substantially lessen competition within the Community or is contrary to the public interest. In view of this, the Authority hereby gives notice to all interested stakeholders, including competitors, suppliers and customers of the merging parties to submit written representations to the Authority with regard to the subject matter of the proposed inquiry by emailing them to: eacca@eachq.org and vokoth@eachq.org. All written representations should be sent to the Authority not later than 25th August, 2026.
If you wish to seek further details and/ or clarifications on any aspect of this proposed transaction or need assistance, you may get in touch with the Deputy Registrar, Mergers and Acquisitions, Mr. Vincent Okoth on +255 27 216 2100 or via email at vokoth@eachq.org
All written representations submitted to the Authority will be treated with the strictest confidentiality and will only be used for the purpose of this inquiry.
