BRUSSELS, July 13 (UPI) -- Celanese Corp. won European Commission approval Wednesday for its purchase of Canada's Acetex Corp. chemical company.
Celanese, majority owned by merchant banker Blackstone Group, expects to close the approximately $490 million deal next Wednesday.
Acetex, based in Vancouver, Canada, makes acetyls, special polymers and films for the European market.
"The commission was initially concerned about the parties' horizontal overlaps in the markets of acetic acid, vinyl acetate monomer and acetic anhydride, and so opened an in-depth inquiry," the European Union body said.
"However, the ... analysis indicated that the markets for these three products are global and that the presence of competitors would exert a sufficient competitive pressure on the parties."
