Rhodia/A&W Merger Clears Final FTC Hurdle.(Albright & Wilson)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

Chemical Market Reporter, November, 1999 by MILMO, SEAN

RHODIA HAS FORMALLY decided to exercise its option to take over Albright & Wilson after the Federal Trade Commission approved the acquisition. The decision will complete the purchase, which began in April when Rhodia used a takeover vehicle, Danube Chemicals Acquisition Corporation, to outbid Albemarle Corp.

for the UK-based phosphate and surfactants producer. The acquisition, which will merge two of the world's leading phosphate producers, was approved by the EC in July. Rhodia last week predicted it will exceed its target of a 75 percent increase in net income this year, despite achieving only a 34 percent rise in net income to [epsilon]214 million ($225 million) in the first nine months of 1999.