Brussels, 12/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 12 February, the European Commission gave the go-ahead to the proposed re-acquisition of Acciai Speciali Terni (AST) and Outokumpu VDM (VDM) by ThyssenKrupp AG (TK).
This decision constitutes the final step in the implementation of the remedies which formed the basis for the Commission's 2012 conditional clearance of the acquisition by Outokumpu (OTK) of TK's stainless steel division, Inoxum (see EUROPE 10725). The Commission cleared the transaction subject to the divestment of AST on 7 November 2012 and approved TK as a suitable purchaser for AST on 13 January 2014. It still had to assess the proposed reacquisition of AST and VDM under the EU merger regulation to make sure that this transaction would not itself raise any competition concerns. The proposed acquisition was notified on 8 January 2014.
The activities of TK and AST overlap only in the distribution of stainless steel products in a number of European countries. However, the Commission has concluded that the reacquisition does not raise any competition concerns, since the merged entity will continue to face a number of credible competitors. It notes that TK was no longer present in the markets where AST and VDM are active. (OL/transl.fl)