The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of MBCC by Sika. The approval is conditional on the divestiture of MBCC’s global chemical admixture business.
The Commission’s preliminary investigation showed that the transaction, as initially notified, would have substantially reduced competition and led to higher prices and less innovation in the European Economic Area (‘EEA’) in the markets for chemical admixtures and concrete admixtures.
To address the Commission’s concerns Sika offered to divest MBCC’s chemical admixture business in the EEA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, the UK and US, including global research and development facilities. The commitments consist of the structural divestiture of a stand-alone business, which fully removes the horizontal overlaps between the parties in chemical admixture markets in the EEA.
The Commission concluded that the proposed transaction, as modified by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns.
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy, said: “Sika and MBCC are important suppliers of green products to the concrete and cement industry in Europe. Their products are essential for the EU’s green transition policy. We were concerned that the combined entity could foreclose competitors. Following the remedies offered by Sika, customers in Europe will continue to have a competitive choice of chemical admixtures suppliers.”
A press release is available online.