Blackstone mag Acetex overnemen (en)

The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of the Canadian chemicals company Acetex by the US based merchant-banking firm Blackstone. One of the companies controlled by Blackstone, Celanese, is active on the same markets as Acetex. The Commission was initially concerned about the parties' horizontal overlaps in the markets of acetic acid, vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) and acetic anhydride, and so opened an in-depth inquiry (see IP/05/280). However, the in-depth analysis indicated that the markets for these three products are global and that the presence of competitors would exert a sufficient competitive pressure on the parties. The Commission has now concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area or a significant part of it.

Blackstone is a private merchant-banking firm based in the US, active mainly in financial advisory services, private equity investing and property investment.

Celanese is a worldwide chemicals company, controlled by Blackstone. It is active in four main sectors: chemical products, acetate products, technical polymers and food ingredients.

Acetex, headquartered in Vancouver, Acetex is active in the acetyls and the plastic business.

On 20th January 2005, the Commission received a notification whereby Celanese acquires sole control of Acetex. Both Celanese and Acetex are companies that produce commodity chemicals including acetic acid, VAM and acetic anhydride. Celanese is a major global supplier, while Acetex is mostly active in Europe.

After an in-depth market investigation, the Commission concluded that the markets for acetic acid, VAM and acetic anhydride are global. For these products, the difference between the average price charged in different regions around the world and production costs leaves a large enough margin to pay for transport, storage and duties, allowing additional trade above the already high level between the different world regions.

The Commission concluded that although Celanese, by acquiring Acetex, would enhance its position on the global markets for acetic acid, VAM and acetic anhydride, the transaction would not lead to competition concerns. Several strong competitors are active on the relevant markets, including BP, Millennium, Daicel, Dow, DuPont and Eastman. Furthermore, a detailed examination of the development of demand and of planned new capacity showed that although demand for these products is growing relatively quickly, planned new capacity particularly in the Far and Middle East would grow even faster. In this situation any attempt by the parties to raise prices or reduce capacity would not succeed.