EU antitrust regulators set to block UPM — Sappi merger, sources say
BRUSSELS, Sept 18 (Reuters) — Finland's UPM-Kymmene and South Africa-listed Sappi are set to face an EU antitrust veto against their proposed €1.42 billion ($1.66 billion) paper joint venture after the companies declined to offer concessions to address competition concerns, people familiar with the matter said. The companies also failed to convince regulators of the merits of their deal at a closed-door hearing earlier this week even after they argued about the sustainability and resilient impact of the deal, one of the people said. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, editing by Inti Landauro) ((Inti.Landauro@thomsonreuters.com;)
66 billion) paper joint venture after the companies declined to offer concessions to address competition concerns, people familiar with the matter said. The companies also failed to convince regulators of the merits of their deal at a closed-door hearing earlier this week even after they argued about the sustainability and resilient impact of the deal, one of the people said. com;)