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President Trump’s regulators have smacked down yet another deal.
The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday afternoon said it was challenging the merger of two chemical makers because it would result in significantly less competition in the companies’ business field.
Stamford, Conn.-based Tronox Ltd.’s plan to buy Saudi-owned Cristal for $1.67 billion plus a 24 percent stake in the combined entity should not be allowed, the FTC said in its administrative complaint.
The Post reported exclusively Sept. 19 that the merger was “in trouble” with the FTC.
Both Tronox and Cristal are chloride leading producers of process titanium dioxide, or TiO2, a white pigment used in a wide variety of products including paint, industrial coatings, plastic, and paper.
President Trump was supposed to be friendly to companies looking to merge but since he took office, regulators have already sued to block AT&T from buying Time Warner, Walgreen from buying Rite Aid, FanDuel and DraftKings from merging — as well as stepping in front of other deals.
The FTC, in addition to opposing the deal, also appeared to grow agitated with Tronox’ behavior. In a statement, the FTC said Tronox had released a deceptive press release earlier this week declaring the regulator, because its review period had expired, had approved the deal.
But Tronox knew the deal wasn’t approved and had pledged to give the FTC 10 days notice before closing the acquisition, the regulator said Tuesday.
It did not give the FTC the 10-day notice, the Washington antitrust cop claimed.
“At the time of Tronox’s press release, the company was aware that the matter was pending before the Commission for imminent further action, and that it could not close the proposed acquisition because of still pending reviews in other jurisdictions,” the FTC said.
Tronox’s shares in after-hours trading were down 9.9 percent to $23.
(NEW YORK POST)
