TIL, Hutchison Ports, TERCAT abandon port merger after Commission probe

The proposed concentration between port-terminal operators TIL, Hutchison Ports and TERCAT has been abandoned. On 4 August 2026 the notifying parties informed the European Commission that they had withdrawn their notification and demonstrated that the concentration was abandoned, bringing merger case M.11811 to an end. The withdrawal is published in the Official Journal of the European Union, C series, document C/2026/4427, of 13 August 2026.

The Commission received notification of the proposed joint venture on 5 November 2025 under Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004, the EU Merger Regulation, and gave notice of it in OJ C/2025/6346 of 21 November 2025. The notified transaction concerned container-terminal operations, in which the three groups planned to combine their port interests in a single undertaking. Like the earlier procedural notices, the withdrawal is designated as a text with EEA relevance.

From notification to in-depth investigation

Under the Merger Regulation, concentrations with a Union dimension must be notified to the European Commission before they are implemented, and the Commission must assess whether they would significantly impede effective competition in the internal market. After a first-phase review of the proposed concentration, the Commission decided on 10 December 2025 to initiate proceedings under Article 6(1)(c) of the Regulation, the provision that opens an in-depth investigation into a transaction which raises serious doubts as to its compatibility with the internal market. That decision was published in OJ C/2025/6763 of 22 December 2025.

Withdrawal and abandonment

The in-depth investigation was still under way when, on 4 August 2026, the notifying parties informed the Commission that they withdrew their notification and demonstrated that they had abandoned the concentration. Under the Merger Regulation, parties may abandon a transaction at any stage of the review, in which case the Commission closes its file; here the parties not only withdrew the notification but also proved to the Commission that the concentration would not be implemented. The procedure in case M.11811 therefore ends without a final Commission decision on the substance of the transaction.

Official references

• Prior notification of the concentration: OJ C/2025/6346, 21 November 2025.
• Merger Regulation: Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004, OJ L 24, 29 January 2004, p. 1.
• Decision to initiate proceedings under Article 6(1)(c): OJ C/2025/6763, 22 December 2025.
• Withdrawal of notification: OJ C/2026/4427, 13 August 2026.

The abandonment removes from the Commission’s merger docket a concentration that had been under in-depth scrutiny for almost eight months, ending the regulatory uncertainty that had hung over the project since December 2025. For operators, partners and customers in the container-terminal sector, the practical consequence is that TIL, Hutchison Ports and TERCAT will not integrate their port activities as notified, and the case file is closed.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, C/2026/4427, 13 August 2026, C series – Information and Notices, p. 1 (official reference: C/2026/4427 / CELEX C_202604427).