The European Commission held a hearing today in Brussels to hear evidence regarding MMG Limited’s (MMG) proposed acquisition of Anglo American’s Brazilian ferronickel assets.
During the hearing, MMG demonstrated its ability and commitment to supply ferronickel to European customers and addressed the European Commission’s questions regarding the global ferronickel market and the security of supply for Europe’s stainless-steel manufacturers. The company also presented evidence from customers in support of the transaction and MMG’s reliability as a supplier.
“MMG has reliably supplied Europe’s metal refiners for almost two decades”, said Troy Hey, MMG’s Executive General Manager – Corporate Relations. “We are a new entrant to Brazil and the nickel market and have made repeated submissions, to the Commission’s antitrust regulators and to the President of the European Commission, demonstrating our long-term commitment to European customers.”
The transaction has successfully progressed through all other required regulatory processes, with the European Commission review representing the final remaining approval required to complete the acquisition.
The acquisition would introduce a new competitor into the ferronickel market while preserving continuity of supply through the transfer of Anglo American’s European marketing function and existing customer contracts. Nickel Brazil would continue to operate as a standalone business supported by its experienced local management team, with MMG intending to invest in the operation and assess future development opportunities.
“The Commission’s decision to open an in-depth enquiry and the allegations of a plan to divert supply of ferronickel from Europe are fundamentally unsupported”, Mr Hey said. “The Commission has selectively used two partial and misleading quotations from over 200,000 documents supplied by MMG and its major shareholder – while ignoring all the other evidence, economic and market analysis to the contrary.”
“Additionally, the regulator has ignored all the substantial market developments since the opening of the in-depth review and the independent market analysis it commissioned for itself”, he said. “This transaction is critical to maintaining high quality ferronickel supply to international customers and the ongoing investment and continued viability of the Brazil Nickel operations, including the jobs of 4,500 Brazilians.
We are confident that, when judged on the facts of the case, we will be able to resolve all the Commission’s concerns.”
Media enquiries
Felicity Watson
+61 408 108 516
felicity.watson@mmg.com