Brussels -- The European Commission has cleared the proposed acquisition of the Belgian amines company Taminco Group Holding Sarl by US-based private equity fund Apollo.
The EC concluded that the proposed transaction would not raise competition concerns because the parties are not active on the same markets and will continue to face competition from several other players on related markets. An EC investigation confirmed that the activities of Taminco do not overlap with those of any other company currently controlled by Apollo.
Apollo does, however, own Momentive Performance Holdings, which uses the types of amines made by Taminco to make polyurethane catalysts.
The commission therefore looked at the competitive effects of the proposed acquisition in such vertical markets for the sale of methylamines
The findings were that, although Taminco is an important supplier of methylamines, there are a number of other methylamine suppliers on the market. At the same time, the volumes of methylamines needed to produce polyurethane catalysts are not significant in comparison to its other applications. The merged entity would therefore be unable to shut out competing methylamine suppliers.
The Commission therefore concluded that the transaction would not impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA)1 or any substantial part of it.
Apollo manages different investment funds which invest in companies involved in various businesses throughout the world, including the chemical sector where it controls Momentive.
Taminco makes alkylamines and derivatives used for a wide variety of products, including agrochemicals, animal feed additives, crop protection chemicals, rubber chemicals and other applications. Taminco is currently owned by the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners.
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