By IANS
Brussels : Now why should the takeover by an Indian company of an American company attract the attention of the European authorities in Brussels?
The short answer is that the 27-nation European Union (EU) is determined to ensure that mergers and acquisitions of companies do not create monopolies and reduce competition within the EU single market, according to the Inepnext news agency.
When the European Commission, the EU's executive arm in Brussels, was notified of the proposed takeover by Hindalco of the US based American company Novalis, it at once checked to see whether the takeover fell within the scope of EU competition policy.
Hindalco, in the Commission's words, "is Asia's largest integrated producer of aluminium, and also active in the copper industry in Asia."
Novelis "is active in the aluminium sector, both at the upstream level and at the downstream level," the Commission noted.
The Commission opened its investigation on April 11. It concluded a month later that the takeover by Hindalco of Novelis would not affect competition on the EU market.
"Hindalco's European activities are very limited," the Commission concluded. And even where they overlapped with those of Novelis, "their combined market position would not give rise to competition concerns."