Mitsubishi Rayon Co said it was waiting for regulatory approval from one government for the US$1.6 billion takeover of UK acrylic maker Lucite International Group Holdings Ltd.
Tadashi Iwasaki, a Mitsubishi Rayon spokesman, declined to identify the country. He said nothing had changed since a March 6 statement that said the Tokyo-based company was committed to completing the acquisition as soon as possible.
The Financial Times reported yesterday that Chinese regulators had withheld approval for the takeover, citing people involved with the matter. Yao Jian (姚堅), a Chinese commerce ministry spokesman, couldn’t be reached, and other ministry officials answering the phones in Beijing declined to comment.
Mitsubishi Rayon announced the planned acquisition in November, in a deal that would give it more than a third of the global market for acrylic monomers used in products ranging from mobile-phone panels to kitchen counters. Both Mitsubishi Rayon and Lucite have sales and manufacturing operations in China, the Financial Times said.
Mitsubishi Rayon gained ¥1 to ¥214 as of 11am on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Topix index advanced 0.43 percent.
The company has “received the necessary antitrust approvals from almost all relevant antitrust authorities with one exception where the review is still progressing,” Mitsubishi said in its March 6 statement.
Lucite and Mitsubishi Rayon “continue to take the necessary steps to expedite completion.”
Chinese regulators blocked Coca-Cola Co’s planned US$2.3 billion takeover of the country’s biggest domestic juicemaker, China Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd (中國匯源果汁集團), on March 18, citing competition concerns.
Lucite, the maker of Perspex and Lucite acrylic sheet, is the successor to the acrylic businesses of DuPont Co and Imperial Chemical Industries PLC. Investment firm Charterhouse Capital Partners LLP bought the business in 1999 from DuPont and renamed it Lucite International in 2002.
Southampton, England-based Lucite has 14 manufacturing sites and 2,000 employees. It makes chemicals used in products ranging from bathtubs to golf balls.
The company has annual revenue of US$1.5 billion and customers including automaker Renault SA and Chi Mei Corp (奇美), Taiwan’s second-largest liquid-crystal display maker.
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,
RSS