On Tuesday, 11 October, the European Commission approved the proposed acquisition of DuPont’s ‘Mobility & Materials’ business by Celanese, subject to full compliance with the commitments offered by Celanese.
Responsible for competition policy, Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager stated, “The commitments offered by Celanese, divesting a stand-alone business, fully remove our competition concerns as they ensure that a player will remain in the market.”
Celanese is a global chemicals and specialty materials company. DuPont’s ‘Mobility & Materials’ business provides high-performance engineering thermoplastics, elastomers, pastes, filaments, and advanced films.
Following the transaction, the entity resulting from the merger will reportedly become the largest producer of thermoplastic copolyester (‘TPC’) both in the European Economic Area and worldwide and will reportedly only be in competition with a few other suppliers remaining in the market.
Celanese proposed divesting its global TPC business, including its production facilities in Ferrara (Italy) and the Pibiflex and Riteflex TPC brands.
The commitments consist of the divestiture of a stand-alone business, which completely eliminates the overlap between the parties’ activities and will enable a buyer to run the divested business as a viable competitive force in the market on a lasting basis. Celanese proposed selling the business to Taro Plast S.p.A., an Italian producer of engineering plastics. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)