BRAZIL – Cade, Brazil's antitrust regulator, has approved without restrictions the purchase of Masisa Brazil by Chilean forestry group Arauco, according to a report published in the Diario Oficial.

The Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) analyzed the impact of the transaction, announced at the beginning of September, regarding the markets of forest plantation for wood extraction, for MDF and MDP panels and for melamine resins.

Masisa Brazil, of the Chilean Masisa Group, produces wood panels, including MDF and MDP. In addition to Brazil, Masisa has manufacturing plants in Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Venezuela and forests in Chile, Argentina and Venezuela.

The transaction, valued at USD 102.8 million that will allow Arauco to consolidate itself as the second largest producer of boards worldwide, includes the acquisition of two Masisa industrial complexes located in Ponta Grossa, in Paraná, and in Montenegro, in Rio Grande do Sul.

According to the note in the Diario Oficial, the companies made the commitment not to affect free competition for the period of three years after the closing of the agreement.