MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tronox Limited, a global mining and inorganic chemicals company, has announced that it has received final approval from the European Commission to close its proposed acquisition of the titanium dioxide (TiO2) business of The National Titanium Dioxide Company Limited (Cristal), a privately held global chemical and mining company headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as per Tronox's press release.
The final approval was issued following the European Commission’s conclusion that Venator Materials PLC is a suitable purchaser of Tronox’s 8120 paper-laminate product grade currently supplied to European customers from Tronox’s Botlek facility in the Netherlands. Divesture of this product grade was the condition set forth in the conditional approval granted to Tronox by the European Commission on July 4, 2018. Consummation of the divestiture of the 8120 paper-laminate product grade will occur following approval of the overall Cristal acquisition transaction by the US regulatory authorities, which Tronox is vigorously pursuing in the US District Court of the District of Columbia.
"We are pleased to receive the European Commission’s final approval and look forward to consummating this highly synergistic combination designed to increase asset utilization, lower our cost position, unlock incremental product volumes to serve growing global markets, and create significant long-term value for our customers and shareholders," said Jeffry N. Quinn, president and chief executive officer of Tronox. "With the post-trial briefing in the administrative proceeding before the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the preliminary injunction hearing in U.S. District Court recently completed, we are focused on securing approval to complete the acquisition and transforming Tronox into the industry’s premier TiO2 company."
In addition to receiving final approval from the European Commission, Australia, China, New Zealand, Turkey, South Korea, Colombia and Saudi Arabia have also approved the proposed acquisition. The United States Federal Trade Commission remains the final regulatory authority reviewing the transaction.
As MRC wrote previously, in March 2017, Saudi Arabia's National Industrialization Co. (Tasnee) announced that its subsidiary, National Titanium Dioxide Company (Cristal) had signed a definitive agreement for the acquisition of its TiO2 business, by Tronox Limited in return for USD1.67 billion and a 24% stake in the new entit. The transaction will create the largest TiO2 company in the world, based on titanium chemical sales and nameplate capacity. Upon closing of the deal, current Tronox Limited shareholders will own 76% and Cristal shareholders will own 24% of the combined entity.
Tronox Limited operates three TiO2 pigment plants in the USA, Netherlands and Australia; it operates mines in South Africa and Australia; it has a research and development center in the USA; and it has an electrolyte and specialty chemicals division in the USA. Tronox has approximately 3,400 employees worldwide.
Cristal is one of the largest producers of titanium dioxide and a leading producer of titanium chemicals. Cristal is the world’s leading supplier of ultrafine titanium dioxide products and titanium chemicals and is a fast-growing producer of mineral sands and titanium metal powder. Cristal operates eight manufacturing plants in seven countries on five continents and employs nearly 3,400 people worldwide. Cristal is owned 79% by Tasnee, a listed Saudi joint stock company and 20% by Gulf Investment Corporation, a company equally owned by the six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council and headquartered in Kuwait.
MRC