EU clears Ashland, Sud-Chemie joint venture

BRUSSELS Nov 30 (Reuters) - U.S. chemicals company Ashland (ASH.N) and Sud-Chemie secured European Union regulatory approval on Tuesday to set up a joint venture in the foundry chemical sector.

The companies said in July they would merge their worldwide foundry chemical activities under the name Ask Chemicals, which will have its headquarters in Hilden, Germany. They expect to close the deal by the end of the year. [ID:nWNAB5967]

The European Commission, the EU competition watchdog, approved the joint venture and said the deal would not hamper competition in the European Economic Area (EEA).

"After examining the operation carefully, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the EEA ... and has therefore approved the concentration," it said in a statement.

Germany's Sud-Chemie is active in speciality chemical products while U.S.-based Ashland is a manufacturer of chemical specialty and performance products as well as a distributor of chemicals and plastics.

(Reporting by Bate Felix, editing by Rex Merrifield)

(Reuters Messaging: bate.felix.reuters.com@reuters.net; Email:bate.felix@thomsonreuters.com; Tel:+3222876812))