Acerinox, S.A., Spain, planned to acquire all of the shares in and sole control of Haynes International, Inc., USA. As a consequence of the merger, Acerinox now has full control of Haynes. The merger concerns the following industry sectors: production of iron ore, steel and ferrous alloys; production and initial processing of other non-ferrous metals.
The notification of 3 October 2024 (BWB/Z-6733) was preceded by a notification in Austria in March 2024 (BWB/Z-6531). As part of the first merger control procedure, the AFCA and the Federal Cartel Prosecutor together filed a request for examination with the Cartel Court. The joint market shares of the two merger parties exceeded the 30% threshold for market dominance, specifically in the area of nickel alloy flat products. The merger parties withdrew their notification, with the AFCA and Federal Cartel Prosecutor subsequently also withdrawing their request for examination for procedural reasons.
In early October, the AFCA received a second merger notification, which was considerably more comprehensive and improved. It addressed concerns raised by the AFCA in the request for examination as part of the first merger procedure by including additional information about the market.
The AFCA submitted a number of requests for information to the notifying parties within the investigation period, which had been extended to six weeks. In addition, the AFCA conducted an extensive market survey covering some 120 of the merger parties’ customers. Furthermore, the most important competitors in the area of nickel alloy flat products referred to in the merger notification as well as in the merger parties’ internal documents were asked to answer questions, with 70% of them responding. The aim of these questions was to gain a comprehensive picture of the planned merger and competitive closeness between the merger parties.
The results of AFCA’s investigations largely confirmed the merger parties’ assertion that a lack of competitive closeness between Acerinox and Haynes meant there were no grounds to prohibit the merger. The AFCA therefore cleared the planned merger by expiry of the deadline on 14 November 2024.
Since the Federal Cartel Prosecutor, in contrast to the AFCA, continued to have concerns at the end of the Phase I investigations due to public interest considerations, the notifying parties offered remedies. The AFCA does not consider these remedies harmful to competition and therefore has no objections.
The remedies offered by the merger parties to the Federal Cartel Prosecutor can be found on the AFCA website. If you have any questions about these commitments, please contact the Federal Cartel Prosecutor, Ludwig Majer.
His report will be published on the AFCA website in the near future.
Examination report on Z-6733 Acerinox SA/Haynes International Inc.