Tronox to appeal US District Court decision on Cristal acquisition

Tronox Limited , a global mining and inorganic chemicals company, has commented on the decision by the US District Court for the District of Columbia granting the US Federal Trade Commission’s ("FTC”) request for a preliminary injunction regarding Tronox’s proposed acquisition of Cristal.

The Company intends to promptly file a notice of appeal and request an expedited hearing of its appeal to reverse the Court’s decision so Tronoxmay proceed with the merger.

Simultaneous to its pursuit of an appeal, Tronox will be considering whether to proceed with the remedial divestiture of Cristal’s Ashtabula, Ohio, two-plant titanium dioxide (TiO₂) production complex.

As announced on July 16, 2018, Tronox and Venator Materials PLC entered into a binding Memorandum of Understanding providing for the negotiation of a definitive agreement to sell the Ashtabula complex to Venator should a divestiture of Ashtabula be required to consummate the Cristal acquisition.

Today’s judicial decision was released under seal to provide counsel for Tronox, Cristal and the FTC an opportunity to review the text of the decision to ensure it contained no confidential information.

The full decision is expected to be issued early next week.