Competition Commission nod for 2.75 bn euro Lanxess-Aramco JV

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Tuesday approved the formation of a 2.75 billion euro joint venture (JV) for synthetic rubber production by German chemicals company Lanxess and Saudi Arabia's Aramco Overseas Company (AOC), in which each will hold a 50 percent interest.

"CCI approves formation of a 50:50 joint venture for synthetic rubber between Lanxess and AOC," India's fair trade practices regulator tweeted.

CCI had earlier considered "certain upstream and downstream products of the worldwide synthetic rubbers sector" as the relevant market for the proposed JV.

"However, in the absence of any competition concerns, the relevant product and geographic markets be left open," CCI had said.

In a statement earlier, the German company had said: "Lanxess will contribute its synthetic rubber business to the new joint venture. This will include the Tire and Specialty Rubbers (TSR) and the High Performance Elastomers (HPE) business units, their 20 production facilities in nine countries and some 3,700 employees and additional support staff."

The new joint venture will be managed by a holding company headquartered in the Netherlands.

While, the chief executive for the JV will be appointed by Lanxess, the chief financial officer will be appointed by Aramco. Each company will have equal representation on the JVs board of directors.