International. The European Commission has approved evonik's acquisition of Huber Silica. The decision is conditional on the divestment of some of the activities of both companies related to precipitated silica, a chemical used in paints and coatings and other industries.
The Commission's investigation concluded that the transaction, as notified, raised competition concerns in the markets of:
- Precipitated silica for toothpaste and for antifoaming applications
- Hydrophobic precipitated silica, which is used in various products, including defoamers, paints, coatings, food additives.
This is due, in particular, to the relatively high combined market shares of the merged entity and the limited number of alternative suppliers in each of these markets.
To address competition issues, Evonik and Huber Silica offered to divest the following activities:
Evonik's silica precipitation business for dental applications in Europe, the Middle East and Africa
Huber Silica's precipitated silica business for defoaming applications in the European Economic Area (EEA)
Huber Silica's hydrophobic precipitated silica business in the EEA
Divestment includes the full transfer of production technology to the production facilities of a suitable buyer. During the transfer, the parties undertake to provide the buyer with full technical support and a transitional supply agreement.
To ensure the success of the production transfer and the effectiveness of the commitments, the purchaser of the assets must be an established producer of precipitated silica with an existing market presence in the EEA.
Source: European Commission.
