Tasnee CEO says confident Cristal-Tronox merger will happen

Chief Executive Officer of National Industrialization Co., (Tasnee) Mutlaq Al-Morished, has expressed confidence that the merger of subsidiary Cristal and Tronox will happen, even though one of the parties may have to offload assets to dilute the market impact of the merger.

US-based Tronox Limited announced plans to acquire the titanium dioxide business of Cristal, a 79 percent subsidiary of Saudi National Industrialization Co. (Tasnee), but the deal faced regulatory block in the US and EU, on antitrust grounds.

Al-Morished, who was speaking to CNBC Arabia, said the parties were willing to finalize the deal.

He added that negotiations were underway with US and EU trade regulators, who fear the deal may give Tronox excessive market power, thereby impacting competition.

Tasnee received on Monday a regulatory nod from Saudi government for the deal, but that still has no impact on the legal position in the USA or the EU.

The initial merger agreement signed by the parties will expire on May 21 unless they renew it.

Tronox filed legal complaint against the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over blocking the deal, and awaits a verdict.