EU conditionally clears Tronox to buy Cristal

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission on Wednesday cleared U.S. chemical group Tronox <TROX.N> to buy Saudi Arabia's Cristal, on the condition that it sells its global business in titanium dioxide pigment for paper laminate.

The Commission had investigated the market of titanium dioxide pigment, which is used in the production of products such plastics or paper, and found that the companies needed to divest a business to get approval.

"Tronox and Cristal are two of the four major players in this market but we can approve their merger because the companies offered a suitable remedy that fully addresses our competition concerns," the Commission, which oversees mergers in the European Union, said.

The Commission will have to approve the buyer of the business that Tronox will sell before clearing the deal.

Reuters reported in June that the deal would be approved.

(Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek)