Tronox in talks to sell Cristal’s Ashtabula complex for $1.1 bln

Tronox Limited has signed agreements to start negotiations to sell Ashtabula complex in Ohio, which is currently owned by the National Titanium Dioxide Company Limited (Cristal), in case the US trade regulators demand the sale as a condition to approve the Tronox-Cristal merger, Tronox said in a statement.

Under the agreement, Tronox will sell Ashtabula complex to Venator Materials for $1.1 billion.

The purchase price will be reduced to $900 million if, instead of promptly divesting Ashtabula, Tronox delays the merger.

The statement didn’t disclose whether complex owner Cristal will get the money or will it belong to the Tronox-Cristal merger firm.

According to data compiled by Argaam, Ashtabula complex comprises two plants with a combined production capacity of 200,000 tons of TiO2 a year, which accounts for 25 percent of Cristal’s total capacity.

Elsewhere, Tronox announced that it reached an agreement to sell its titanium plant in the UK to Venator, adhering to the conditional approval of the EU regulators on the Cristal deal.