Brussels, 13/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Bakelite AG by the investment group, Apollo, subject to conditions. It is of the view that the proposed transaction could give rise to competition concerns in the fields of phenolic resins for refractory materials and reactive diluents for epoxy systems (insulation, laminates, friction material, coatings and floorings, etc). To remedy the Commission's concerns, the parties have suggested granting licenses on a “technology package” to their customers, who could in turn grant sub-licenses to other suppliers, a press release states. This would allow end-users to turn to other suppliers, the Commission states. In its view, the deal would not pose competitive problems in other final applications for phenolic resins, given the fact that the parties' activities are complementary and that other providers hold a strong position, like Dynea and Sumitono.
The Apollo group controls Borden and Resolution, two companies which manufacture, respectively, formaldehyde and epoxy resin-based products sold throughout the world. Bakelite, which is based in Germany, is mainly active in Europe, producing formaldehyde resins, moulding compounds and epoxy resins.