Merger Notification - Announcement according to § 10 Cartel Act

H.I.G. Colors Inc.; Bushy Park - BWB/Z-5484 | Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde

H.I.G. Colors Inc.; Bushy Park

BWB/Z-5484

24.06.2021

On 24.06.2021 the Austrian Federal Competition Authority was notified of the following merger:

Planned purchase process

The notified concentration (the “Transaction”) concerns the purchase by North American pigment producer H.I.G. Colors, Inc. (hereinafter, with its subsidiaries, “DCL”) of the Bushy Park pigment production facility located in South Carolina, USA (“Bushy Park” or “the Bushy Park facility”).

Bushy Park is being sold by DIC Corporation (“DIC”) as a condition of the European Commission’s 7 December 2020 clearance of DIC’s acquisition of BASF Colors and Effects (“BCE”).4 The European Commission approved DCL as the purchaser of Bushy Park on 2 June 2021.

DCL is a North American manufacturer and supplier of pigments, which is majority owned by the US private equity firm H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”). DIC is a Japanese manufacturer and supplier of pigments and specialty chemicals. DIC operates the Bushy Park facility through its wholly-owned US subsidiary, Sun Chemical Corporation (“Sun Chemical”). 

The Transaction concerns the manufacture and supply of pigments.

Industry sector: C - Verarbeitendes Gewerbe/Herstellung von Waren

Deadline for bringing in an application pursuant to § 11(1) Cartel Act will end on 22.07.2021.

Entrepreneurs whose legal or economic interests are affected by the merger can bring in a written statement at the Federal Competition Authority or the Federal Cartel Prosecutor within 14 days from publication date.

Note: The intervening party has no right to a certain treatment of the statement and will not gain a party position.

Non-prohibition of the merger

The Federal Competition Authority and the Federal Cartel Prosecutor have not applied for examination of the merger by the Cartel Court. The standstill obligation (§ 17 (1) Cartel Act) ends with effect from 23.07.2021 .

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