The European Commission has approved the creation of a joint venture between US-based KAES Phosphate Holdings LLC, known as KI Group, and Morocco’s OCP Nutricrops S.A., known as OCP Group, under the EU Merger Regulation.
The deal relates mainly to the production of phosphoric acid and phosphate-based fertilisers, the Commission said in a statement on Friday.
Phosphoric acid is an industrial chemical commonly used to make phosphate fertilisers, which supply crops with the nutrient phosphorus.
The Commission said it found the transaction would not raise competition concerns because the joint venture will have negligible activities in the European Economic Area, which includes EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
Merger review decision
The transaction was examined under the Commission’s simplified merger review procedure.
More details are available on the Commission’s competition website and in its public case register under case number M.12624.
