Mitsubishi Rayon has said its plans to acquire British chemical producer Lucite International Group in a friendly takeover to become a leading manufacturer of methyl methacrylate for car parts and electronics devices such as liquid crystal displays was being held up by Chinese regulators but that there would be no change to the deal.
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According to AFP, Mitsubishi Rayon said the Chinese competition authorities yet to approve its US$16bn dollar acquisition of the British acrylics maker, originally expected to be completed in January.
“But there won’t be any change in the deal due to the delay,”, Mitsubishi Rayon spokeswoman Mariko Ishikawa said.
Neither party in the deal is based in China but both have sales and manufacturing operations so that they are required to gain Beijing’s approval, the spokeswoman added.
The Financial Times reported on Monday that China’s ministry of commerce was the sole antitrust regulator worldwide to withhold approval of the deal.
The British newspaper said it was the latest example of Beijing’s flexing its muscles over international deals, fuelling concerns about protectionism in the communist country, AFP noted.
