UK Regulator Investigates Tronox TiZir Buy
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) intends to open a Phase 2 investigation into Tronox’s proposed purchase of the TiZir titanium and iron business from French multinational mining and metallurgy group Eramet.
However, Tronox said that as a standard part of the process, the company may offer remedies to the CMA before it reaches a final decision on whether to begin the investigation.
Under the terms of the takeover announced in May 2020, Tronox agreed to pay approximately $300 million for the TiZir business, which upgrades ilmenite to high-grade titanium slag and high-purity pig iron. The facility in Tyssedal, Norway, has annual capacities of 230,000 t/y of titanium slag and 90,000 t/y pig iron. The US pigment producer said the “highly strategic” acquisition would lower the cost of obtaining feedstock for its titanium operations.
While the proposed takeover did not require notification in the UK, or meet premerger reporting thresholds in the US, regulators in both countries launched investigations. A decision from the US Federal Trade Commission is still awaited.
Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist
