The Competition Commission on Thursday recommended the approval of the merger that would see mining major Anglo American gain joint control over chrome-ore mining and smelting group Samancor, without conditions.
Anglo American already held a 40% stake in Samancor, with mining company BHP Billiton holding the remainder; however, BHP Billiton currently had sole control over Samancor.

Following the merger, Anglo American and BHP Billiton would have joint control over Samancor, comprising Samancor Holdings, Groote Eylandt Mining Company and Samancor AG.

“The commission’s investigation found that there is no horizontal overlap in the activities of Anglo American and the Samancor joint venture. The commission also considered BHP Billiton’s activities, other joint ventures between Anglo American and BHP Billiton, as well as potential areas of overlap between Anglo American and BHP Billiton outside of the Samancor joint venture,” the commission said in a statement.

The commission said it had found that the proposed transaction was not likely to substantially prevent or reduce competition in the affected markets, namely the production of manganese ore and manganese alloys.

It added that the proposed transaction also did not raise any public interest concerns.

• [Editor:Sophie]