Brussels, 19/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 19 April, the European Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of 50% of the shares in Cebo of the Netherlands, currently held by Cementbouw also of the Netherlands, by S&B of Greece. The remaining 50% of the shares in Cebo are held by Halliburton of the US. The Commission's examination of the proposed transaction showed that the transaction would lead to horizontal overlaps mainly with respect to bentonite products used in underground engineering and environmental engineering and, to a very limited extent, with respect to a few other applications (cat litter, paper industry and animal feed). Given the presence of S&B in the upstream market for the mining of raw bentonite, the transaction would also lead to the creation of vertical relationships with respect to Cebo's bentonite downstream activities. However, the Commission's investigation has shown that the transaction will not lead to anti-competitive effects in any of the markets in which the parties' activities overlap or have a vertical relationship, due to the limited combined market shares post transaction, and to the presence of other strong competitors in the markets concerned. (cd)