Brussels, 24/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has approved the proposed acquisition, subject to conditions, by Australia-based Orica Ltd. (“Orica”) of most of the businesses of Norwegian company Dyno Nobel ASA (“Dyno”) outside North America and Australia. Both companies are active in the explosives and detonators industry. Under the proposed operation, Orica would acquire almost all of Dyno's business in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America; the Dyno operations in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have been spun-off as a separate company which has been sold to the stock market by an initial public offering. Without Orica's commitment to divest its Orica Scandinavia Mining Services business in Norway and Sweden, there would have been competition problems in these two countries, with the parties' activities overlapping in this market. In light of the commitment to divest, the merged entity will have a leading position in the European market but it will also face competition from a number of strong competitors, each of them possessing considerable excess capacity. In a press release Neelie Kroes commented: “Since the parties were prepared to offer a clear-cut remedy entirely removing the overlap between their explosives activities in Norway and Sweden, we are now satisfied that the creation of the new entity would not result in higher prices for explosives and detonators to the detriment of the mining and construction industry and ultimately of consumers”.