SOJITZ OSAKA GAS ENERGY CO. ("SOGEC") and LOOOP INC Company ("LOOOP") submitted a comprehensive and valid economic concentration notification dossier to the Vietnam Competition and Consumer Authority (VCCA) in September 2021. (enterprises participating in the economic concentration).

SOGEC Company and LOOOP Company planned to form a joint venture company situated in Long Duc Industrial Park, Dong Nai province, to trade in rooftop solar electricity, according to the announcement of enterprises participating in the economic concentration. SOGEC will possess 70% of the charter capital and LOOOP will own 30% of the charter capital in the Joint Venture Company. As a result, the above-mentioned economic concentration transaction is a joint venture as defined by Clause 5, Article 29 of the Competition Law.

SOGEC (the joint venture's first partner) is a subsidiary of Sojitz Corporation, a Japanese multi-industry conglomerate with interests in numerous countries across the world. Sojitz Group operates in a variety of businesses in Vietnam, including trading industrial machinery, IT, fertilizer manufacturing, logistics services, gas, generating wood chips, and creating industrial park infrastructure, among others.

LOOOP (the joint venture's second party) is a Japanese firm that specializes in the manufacture and marketing of solar panels, as well as the sale, maintenance, and repair of solar cells and peripheral equipment. LOOOP Company, on the other hand, has never done business in Vietnam.

The Joint Venture Company will buy solar photovoltaic systems from abroad suppliers and install them on the roofs of industrial customers who require rooftop solar power in their facilities. The Joint Venture Company will then continue to own and operate the rooftop solar power system, selling the electricity generated to customers under the terms of the direct power purchase agreement agreed by the two parties.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade announced on October 11, 2021, that the economic concentration between SOJITZ OSAKA GAS ENERGY CO., LTD and LOOOP INC. is not prohibited under Article 30 of the Competition Law and is permitted to proceed as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 41 of the Viet Nam Competition Law 2018.

Source: Viet Nam Competition and Consumer Authority, MOIT