US: FTC imposes conditions on Quaker Chemical’s Houghton buy

Chemical companies Quaker Chemical and Houghton International have agreed to divest certain products and related assets to a subsidiary of French multinational corporation Total, to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that Quaker’s proposed US$1.4 billion acquisition of Houghton would violate federal antitrust law.

The FTC’s complaint alleges that the proposed acquisition would harm competition in the North American market for aluminum hot rolling oil, or AHRO, and associated technical support services, and in the North American market for steel cold rolling oil, or SCRO, and associated technical support services. According to the complaint, the SCRO market includes sheet cold rolling oil, tin plate rolling oil, or TPRO, and pickle oil. AHRO, SCRO, TPRO, and pickle oil are critical inputs in the production of sheet metal.

The complaint alleges the proposed transaction may substantially lessen competition in the markets for SCRO, AHRO, and their associated technical support services. Quaker and Houghton are the only two commercial suppliers of AHRO in North America and the two largest commercial suppliers of SCRO in North America, according to the complaint.