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UPDATE 1-Eramet gets EU clearance to buy Norway's Tinfos
Fri Jul 4, 2008 8:44am BST Email | Print | Share| Single Page| Recommend (0) [-] Text [+] (Adds details)

BRUSSELS, July 4 (Reuters) - French nickel and manganese group Eramet (ERMT.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) won European Commission clearance to buy Tinfos AS of Norway on Friday, a deal boosting Eramet's position in manganese alloys through an output increase of over 20 percent.

"The Commission's investigation has found that the proposed transaction would not impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it," the Commission, the European Union's top competition regulator, said in a statement.

Eramet announced in April an agreement with the major shareholders of the family-controlled firm, who will own some 2.4 percent of Eramet after the cash-and-share deal, which has an enterprise value of 593 million euros ($942 million).

Manganese is a key alloying element in the global steel industry.

The Commission said the companies' activities overlapped in the production and distribution of manganese alloys but their combined market shares in 2007 for manganese alloys was 7 percent worldwide and less than 20 percent at EEA level.

"In addition, there are strong competitors in the market," the statement said.

It said the transaction gave rise to a limited vertical overlap between the upstream market of manganese ores and downstream market of special steel products.

"However, the Commission found that the proposed concentration would not give rise to any competition concerns on these markets," the statement said. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Quentin Bryar)