European Commission approves sale of Terni and VDM to ThyssenKrupp

The European Commission (EC) has announced that it has approved the proposed acquisition of Finland-based stainless steel producer Outokumpu's Italian steel plant Acciai Speciali Terni and its high performance alloy unit VDM by German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp. The EC said that the reacquisition does not raise any competition concerns, since the merged entity will continue to face a number of credible competitors.
 
Outokumpu and ThyssenKrupp stated that they expect to close the transaction in the next few weeks, subject to fulfillment of all closing conditions.
 
Outokumpu is divesting its Terni plant as a remedy for its acquisition of Inoxum, ThyssenKrupp's stainless steel branch.