BUDAPEST (Thomson Financial) -- Hungarian oil and gas company MOL Nyrt said Friday that it welcomed an EU investigation into what it said was an “anti-competitive” takeover bid from Austrian rival OMV AG.

The statement follows an announcement from OMV this morning that it had formally asked EU competition authorities to examine the proposed takeover.
The management of Hungary’s largest company, who have control over 40 percent of the equity, say they oppose the takeover as it would mean they would have to sell a refinery to meet competition regulations.
“If the EU said it would have to do this then this would strengthen the position of MOL’s management as this is one of the main arguments against the merger,” said Akos Herczenik, an analyst at Raiffeisen Bank.
“If they said the don’t have to sell or just minimally reduce capacity then this would put a lot of pressure on MOL’s management as shareholders would say OMV is right.”
Herczenik, however, pointed to the rock solid position of MOL’s management, given their control the company’s equity. “If they don’t want to sell, they wont,” he said.