Tronox may sell TiO2 plant to Ineos instead

Abstract

In an effort to save its deal to buy Cristal, Tronox may sell a titanium dioxide complex in Ashtabula, Ohio, to Ineos for $700 million. The US Federal Trade Commission is trying to block the purchase of Cristal by Tronox—the second- and sixth-largest makers of the white pigment in the world, behind number one Chemours—on the grounds that the combined firm would have too commanding a market share in high-value chloride-process TiO2. The merger was originally announced in February 2017. The Ashtabula plant, still owned by Cristal, has 245,000 metric tons per year of chloride-process TiO2 capacity. This summer, Tronox signed an agreement to sell the plant to rival Venator in a deal potentially worth $1.1 billion. However, that transaction fell through when the 75-day exclusivity period between the firms expired in October before they could come to terms. In a new setback for Tronox, an administrative judge presiding over