The building materials group can take over the former construction chemicals division of BASF, but must sell MBCC’s chemical additives business in order to do so.
The EU Commission has approved the takeover of MBCC by Sika subject to conditions. The building materials group has to sell the global MBCC business with chemical additives.
After a preliminary investigation, the Commission came to the conclusion that the merger would have “significantly affected competition and led to higher prices and less innovation,” the agency said on Wednesday evening.
To address the Commission’s concerns, Sika offered to sell MBCC’s chemical additives business in the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US. This includes the worldwide research and development facilities.
Authorities in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States were involved in the investigations. When examining a potential buyer, the EU authority will continue to coordinate with them.
MBCC is the former construction chemicals business of BASF. Sika announced the purchase at the end of 2021 and put a purchase price of CHF 5.5 billion on the table. Earlier this year, Sika had already sold MBCC’s additives business to Ineos as a circulation in the United States, Canada, Europe and Great Britain. Sika now expects the takeover of the MBCC Group to be completed in the first half of 2023.
Source : Fuw