EC clears acquisition of US titanium producer Timet in phase I after investigating vertical foreclosure concerns

The European Commission has cleared, in phase 1 and without remedies, the proposed acquisition of the US titanium producer Timet by the US component manufacturer Precision Castparts Corporation (PCC).RBB advised the parties to show that the transaction would not raise any competition concerns, in particular the merged entity would be unable to raise prices for Timet's inputs to PCC downstream competitors. The parties have shown that the existence of long term supply agreements (LTAs) and the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) bargaining power would prevent the merged entity from raising input prices to downstream competitors.