Brussels, 03/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - Considering that the operation does not raise any competition problems, the European Commission authorised, on 2 April, the acquisition of Albright & Wilson Ltd's European activities in the surfactants business (Albright & Wilson Surfactants Europe) by the American company Huntsman International LLC. The latter produces a wide range of commodity and speciality chemicals, while Albright & Wilson Surfactant Europe produces and sells surfactant products in Europe.
Huntsman International is a subsidiary of Huntsman International Holdings, a joint company controlled by Huntsman Corp. (USA) and the British group ICI. Albright & Wilson has been under the control of Rhodia SA since March 2000. The Commission has examined the markets for anionic surfactants, non-ionic surfactants, cationic surfactants and amphoteric surfactants. In addition, it has carried out an assessment of the operation envisaged on the market for dimethylaminopropylamine (DMAPA). After this examination, the Commission considers that the acquisition is complementary from the geographical point of view in so far as the Huntsman group carried out most of its surfactant production in North America and Australia, while Albright & Wilson Surfactants Europe is represented on the European market. ICI produces and sells the four surfactant products mentioned above in Europe, but the cumulated market share of ICI and Albright & Wilson Surfactants Europe is weak on all the markets in question. The operation does not pose a competition problem and the Commission has therefore decided to clear it.