Synthomer Receives European Commission Clearance for OMNOVA Acquisition
In order to proceed with its acquisition of OMNOVA, Synthomer will divest its vinyl pyridine (VP) latex business in Germany.
Synthomer plc recently announced that it has received conditional clearance from the European Commission regarding its proposed acquisition of OMNOVA Solutions Inc. Following its Phase 1 investigation, the European Commission concluded that the transaction, as modified by the commitments offered by Synthomer, does not raise any competition concerns. The commitments require divestment of Synthomer’s small vinyl pyridine (VP) latex business in Germany, which represented less than 0.5% of Synthomer’s 2018 sales volume.
While financially immaterial, the sale process must be finalized prior to the closing of Synthomer’s acquisition of OMNOVA. This represents a structural remedy offered by Synthomer to address any concerns regarding the overlap between the two companies’ VP latex operations.