Ineos (Rolle / Switzerland; www.ineos.com) has seized the chance to become the North American titanium dioxide (TiO₂) market’s second largest player in one fell swoop. The olefins and polyolefins giant is buying the US whitening pigment assets of Saudi Arabian TiO₂ manufacturer Cristal Global (Jeddah; www.cristal.com) from Tronox (Stamford, Connecticut / USA; www.tronox.com) for USD 700m (EUR 616m). The Cristal assets up for grabs include two plants at Ashtabula, Ohio / USA.

Tronox is shedding the Ohio businesses to satisfy the US Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust requirements for closing its worldwide acquisition of Cristal. To date, the plans have been approved in all relevant geographies apart from the US. An attempt to sell the Stateside plants to Venator (Stockton-on-Tees / UK; www.venatorcorp.com), a spin-off of Huntsman (The Woodlands, Texas / USA; www.huntsman.com), failed for unknown reasons. Tronox is selling its paper-laminate grade business in Botlek / The Netherlands to Venator in exchange for EU approval of the Cristal deal, which the European Commission greenlit in September 2018 – see Plasteurope.com of 04.09.2018.

“We are hopeful this proposed settlement encompassing a complete structural remedy, the result of months of consultation and collaboration with the FTC staff, will allow the commissioners to approve the transaction,” Tronox CEO Jeffry Quinn said when proposing Ineos as a buyer in December 2018. Quinn said the Switzerland-based group as a new player would be a strong competitor and bring “new energy” to the industry.

Ineos said it has received support for the buy from customers of both Cristal and Tronox. Ashley Reed, CEO of Ineos Enterprises, called the purchase a “great opportunity to enter the pigments market by acquiring a competitive business with excellent people and assets.”