BRUSSELS — Precision Castparts Corp. (PCC) has sought approval from the European Commission in its attempt to acquire control of Titanium Metals Corp. (Timet).

The European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition is expected to rule Dec. 19 whether "the merged entity will have the ability to propose a better offering of products to its customers and ... compete more efficiently with the larger global market players."

Most of PCC’s European subsidiaries are located in the United Kingdom, but the company also holds subsidiaries in Germany, Ireland, France and the Czech Republic.

The merger mainly concerns the upstream market for the production of titanium and the downstream market for the production of titanium-based products. Dallas-based Timet produces titanium melted and mill products, while Portland, Ore.-based PCC manufactures structural investment castings, forged components, and airfoil castings for aircraft engines and other applications for various industries.

PCC announced earlier this month its plans to acquire Timet in a deal valued at about $2.9 billion (amm.com, Nov. 9).

A version of this article was first published by AMM sister publication Metal Bulletin.