EU Clears Imerys' Proposed Buy Of Rio Tinto's Talc Unit

The European Union Friday cleared the proposed acquisition of Rio Tinto's (RIO) talc unit by French-based company Imerys (NK.FR).

The talc business of Anglo-Australian mining group Rio Tinto, which trades under Talc de Luzenac, produces, ships and sells a wide range of talc products from its mines and processing plants in Europe, North and Central America and Asia-Pacific.

The European Commission said the transaction would not significantly alter the structure of the talc market.

"The Commission's investigation found that the transaction will neither significantly influence the structure of the markets for talc products for the different end-use applications nor affect Imerys's incentive or ability to engage in anticompetitive bundling strategies with talc and other industrial minerals," it said.

-By Riva Froymovich, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]