Mubasher: Tronox Company is moving ahead with its planned $1.7 billion acquisition of the titanium dioxide business of Saudi company Cristal.
This comes after a waiting period under federal antitrust law expired without further action or communication from the US Federal Trade Commission, according to the company’s statement.
The deal was first announced in February, but faced some regulatory challenges.
Tronox CEO Jeffry Quinn said that “based on consultation with counsel, we believe that expiration of the waiting period means that we can proceed toward completion of the transaction once all closing conditions are met.”
“However, we have not been informed that the Federal Trade Commission has formally concluded its investigation. The commission could conceivably seek to enjoin the transaction at a later time, but we believe such action would be unprecedented and contrary to the rationale of the pre-merger notification system that is the framework of the U.S. regulatory process,” he added.
Tronox intends to complete the transaction following the satisfaction of all remaining conditions to the acquisition, including antitrust clearance by the European Commission and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the statement concluded.
