BRUSSELS, Belgium - EU regulators on Thursday cleared EN+, the owner of Russia's biggest aluminum producer OAO Rusal, to absorb rival Sual and the aluminum assets of Swiss-based commodities trader Glencore, creating the world's biggest aluminum company.
The European Commission said the deal would not significantly impede competition in Europe because the new company would continue to face "effective" rivalry.
The resulting company would control some 12 percent of global aluminum output with activities stretching across four continents, binding together mines in Jamaica, refineries in Ireland, Jamaica and Italy, a Swedish smelter and all stages of production in Russia and Ukraine.
Under the terms of the agreement, Rusal will issue new shares to acquire Sual, which is controlled by metals and oil tycoon Viktor Vekselberg, as well as the Glencore assets.
Glencore will keep some bauxite and other activities and have a representative on the board of the new company, to be called UC Rusal. EU regulators said this should not pose an antitrust problem because neither Glencore nor the new company had a large share of these markets and could not restrict competition by coordinating their behavior.
Company officials have said they hope the deal will be completed by April. Rusal said the deal still needs final approval from Russia and four European countries it did not name. The Russian federal anti-monopoly service cleared the deal on Jan. 17.
Sual and Glencore investors will hold 22 percent and 12 percent stakes, respectively, in the new company, a $30 billion business that will produce nearly 4 million tons of aluminum per year.
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