U.S. specialty chemicals maker Ashland (ASH.N) gained EU approval on Friday for its $3.2 billion purchase of privately held International Specialty Products Inc. to reinforce its range of products. Ashland, the producer of Valvoline oil, said in May the acquisition is expected to boost annual earnings by 50 percent to $1.1 billion before interest, taxes and depreciation and amortisation. The European Commission, the EU competition watchdog, said the purchase did not raise significant competition concerns, and the merged company would continue to face competition from a number of rival suppliers. "The transaction would not raise competition concerns because the companies' activities are largely complementary and the transaction would not significantly modify the structure of the market," the Commission said in a statement.
Ashland Inc. (Ashland) business consists of five segments: Ashland Aqualon Functional Ingredients; Ashland Hercules Water Technologies; Ashland Performance Materials; Ashland Consumer Markets (Valvoline), and Ashland Distribution. Shares of ASH remained unchanged at $49.00. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $44.46 and as high as $69.46. On average, 1140910 shares of ASH exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 0.
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