Brussels, 13/01/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has authorised Klöckner UK Holdings to acquire control of Richardsons Westgarth under a public offer. Koöckner UK, part of the German group VIAG, is active in the processing and distribution of metals. Richardsons Westgarth is a steel processor and stockholder quoted on the London Stock Exchange. Both companies are primarily active in the United Kingdom and to a lesser extent in Ireland.
The Commission's competition services concluded that the operation does not entail a risk of dominant position on the market for the distribution of steel products as a steel stockbroker, on which there will be some overlap. According to the Commission's analyses: i) the parties' combined market share will not exceed 15% on the market for the distribution of steel products; ii) on the UK market, the combined entity would have a share of 8% for flat steel products, 12% for long products and 3% for stainless steel; iii) there are several significant competitors on both the UK and Irish markets, notably British Steel and Thryssen Krupp.