Brussels, 19/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - On 19 July, the European Commission authorised the chemicals company Univar, which is controlled by CVC Capital Partners (EUROPE 9504), to acquire the Belgian and Dutch activities of Eurochem (a chemicals company which is also known by the name Quaron), but has referred the purchase of the company's activities in France to the French competition authority, by request of the French authorities. This purchase comes further to an agreement concluded on 5 February 2010 whereby Univar acquires all stakes in Eurochem.
The operation, which was notified on 28 May 2010, concerns Univar's purchase of the commodity (large-scale distribution and low-cost household chemicals such as alcohol, caustic soda and hydrochloric acid) and speciality product (trademarked, high-cost products distributed in small quantities for the composition of coatings, cosmetics, foodstuffs and pharmaceutical products, etc) distribution activities of Eurochem in Belgium, the Netherlands and France.
The purchase of the Belgian and Dutch activities poses no problems, according to the Commission, as there are only very minor horizontal overlaps and limited supply relations between Eurochem, Taminco and Evonik (two other companies controlled by CVC Capital: see also EUROPE 9736). The situation is quite different on the French market, where the transaction will lead to major overlaps on the chemicals distribution market and seriously jeopardise competition, especially in the west of the country, where it will reduce the number of competitors from three to two (the entity created from the merger and Brenntag). The Commission concluded that the corrective measures proposed by the parties were insufficient and, by request of the French authorities, decided to refer the French part of the merger to the French competition authority, which it feels is in a better position to assess the impact of the operation nationally. (F.G./transl.fl)