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European Commission clears creation of Styrolution Joint Venture at Phase I

On 1 June 2011 the European Commission cleared the merger of BASF's and INEOS's styrene businesses, to create a new joint venture active in the production of styrene and derivatives including PS, ABS and SAN, creating a number of horizontal and vertical overlaps.

Unusually for a Phase I transaction in Europe, the transaction was cleared subject to a remedy in ABS which reduced rather than reversed the increment due to the merger, with the parties agreeing to divest one of INEOS's two ABS production plants in Europe.

A CRA team including Cristina Caffarra, Diana Jackson, Dan Donath, Jenny Haydock, Rebecca Fordham, Matt Tavantzis and Rosalind Hunter advised the parties on issues of geographic and product market definition and on the potential horizontal and vertical issues arising from the transaction.

For more details see the Commission press release.

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