US Tronox to respond to Cristal deal by early April

Tronox Limited, a US mining and chemicals company, on Tuesday said it had received a statement of objections from the European Commission regarding its proposed acquisition of Jeddah-based Cristal's titanium dioxide ("TiO2") business.

"The statement of objections further details and clarifies the Commission's position, and receipt of it establishes a defined framework to move forward,” Jeffry N. Quinn, president and chief executive officer of Tronox, said in a statement.

"We continue in constructive dialogue and I am confident we can determine an appropriate and proportionate resolution to any valid concerns of the Commission."

Tronox has to respond to the statement of Objections by early April 2018.

The statement of objections reflects the preliminary assessment of the European Commission and does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation and/or the need to offer any particular remedy.

Cristal is a 79 percent subsidiary of Saudi National Industrialization Co. (Tasnee) which has already received the regulatory nod from Saudi government for the deal.

In January, Tadawul-listed Tasnee extended the end date for the transaction has to June 30 from May 21, with automatic three-month extensions until March 31, 2019, if necessary.