EC clears West Rock's acquisition of MPS

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The European Commission concluded that the deal raised no anti-trust concerns on the markets for folding cartons for beverages and for pharmaceutical products in Ireland and the UK.

The European Commission (EC) has cleared the US paper and packaging company West Rock to take over specialty packaging manufacturer Multi Packaging Solutions (MPS). In its merger review procedure, which focused on the markets for folding cartons for beverages and folding cartons for pharmaceutical products in the UK and Ireland, the EC found that the deal did not raise competition concerns.

The EC considered that the activities of the companies in market for folding cartons for beverages were focused on different market segments. In relation to folding cartons for pharmaceutical products on the UK market, the transaction reportedly did not significantly change the market structure. In Ireland, the EC found that a number of competitors remained in the market and the barriers to enter the market for these products were rather low.

West Rock and MPS had reached definitive agreement on the transaction in late January 2017. Under the terms of the agreement, West Rock will acquire all the outstanding shares of MPS for $18 per share in cash and additionally assume MPS's net debt estimated at $873m. This puts the total enterprise value for MPS business at $2.28bn.

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