Brussels, June 25 - Austrian retailer Spar's Hungarian unit won competition clearance from the European Commission on Wednesday to buy Plus Hungary, a rival seller of food and non-food products.
"The combined firm would continue to face several strong and effective competitors in food retail with significant market shares both at national and local levels," the Commission, the European Union's top competition regulator, said in a statement.
"The Commission found that on the procurement markets the proposed transaction would not lead to a significant increase of buyer power for the combined firm vis-a-vis its suppliers (i.e. the combined entity would not be in a position to influence its suppliers' prices)," the statement said.