EU anti-trust regulators OK $5.6B Dentsply-Sirona merger

Dentsply International (NSDQ:XRAY) and Sirona Dental Systems (NSDQ:SIRO) won conditional EU approval for their $5.6 billion merger today after agreeing to extend licensing agreements between Sirona and key suppliers.

York, Penn.-based Dentsply also agreed to technical and legal safeguards for rival block suppliers and a fast track arbitration process to resolve disputes.

“The decision is conditional in particular upon the extension of licensing agreements between Sirona and its current suppliers of CAD/CAM blocks used in its chairside CAD/CAM systems,” the European Commission said.

In January, shareholders approved the proposed merger, keeping the purchase on track for completion in the 1st quarter of the year. Closure of the merger is still subject to regulatory approval, the companies said.

The stockholder vote was proposed in December, with both shareholder meetings planned in their respective headquarters on the same day. The deal has already past both Denstply and Sirona’s boards, who voted unanimously for the merger of equals, according to an SEC filing from Dentsply.

In late November month, the companies announced that the merger cleared the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s waiting period, clearing the way for a close in the 1st quarter of 2016.

The merger, announced in September, would create the world’s largest dental equipment maker. It calls for Sirona shareholders to receive 1.8142 XRAY shares for each SIRO share they own. At roughly $98.06 apiece, that’s about a 0.7% discount on Sirona’s $99.31 closing price the day before the deal was announced.

The combined company, Dentsply Sirona, is slated to trade on the NASDAQ exchange under the XRAY symbol. At that point Dentsply shareholders will own 58% of the new entity, with Sirona shareholders owning the rest. Dentsply Sirona’s global headquarters will be in York, Pa., with international HQ in Salzburg, Austria.

Material from Reuters was used in this article.

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