EU approves BASF’s €3.1bn deal for Cognis, subject to divestment

30 November 2010 19:30  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS)--The European Commission has cleared BASF’s €3.1bn ($4.1bn) acquisition of specialty chemicals producer Cognis, subject to BASF’s commitment to divest Cognis’ hydroxy monomers business, a chemical used in coatings and adhesives, it said on Tuesday.

In addition to divesting Cognis's entire hydroxyl monomer production business, BASF had also committed to divesting the multifunctional methacrylates and adducts business at Cognis’s Hythe site in the UK, the Commission said.

Furthermore, BASF would grant intellectual property rights to a third-party buyer to produce polyalkylene glycols (PAG) and PAG-based lubricants – initially exclusively for BASF, and later on its own right, the Commission said.

The Commission's investigation had shown that the divestment and commitments on BASF’s part would resolve competition concerns from the takeover, which was announced in June, it said.

“In the light of these commitments, the Commission concluded that the proposed transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area or any substantial part of it,” it said.

($1 = €0.76)

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By: Stefan Baumgarten
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