Brussels, 25 August 2022
The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of joint control of Vianode AS by Elkem ASA (‘Elkem’), Hydro Energi Invest AS (‘Hydro’), all of Norway, and Altor Fund Manager AB (‘Altor’) of Sweden. Vianode is active in the development of anode materials for the production of battery materials in the US and the European Economic Area. Elkem is active worldwide in the production of silicon, ferrosilicon, carbon, microsilica and ferrosilicon-based specialty alloys for the iron foundry and steel industries. Hydro is a fully integrated aluminium company and has activities throughout the aluminium value chain. Altor manages a group of private equity funds carrying out investments worldwide. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns given its very limited impact on the market. The transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure. More information is available on the Commission’s competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.10803.
Source – EU Commission