Brussels, July 9 - Belgian retailer Louis Delhaize won permission from the European Commission on Monday to buy Hungarian supermarket chain Magyar Hipermarket.
"The horizontal overlaps between the activities of Louis Delhaize and Magyar Hipermarket are limited and ... the combined firm would continue to face several strong and effective competitors," the EU's top antitrust authority said in a statement.
"Moreover, new openings of outlets by competitors are planned and the Hungarian retail market is expected to further develop. Accordingly, the Commission has concluded that the proposed transaction would not give rise to competition concerns," it said.
Magyar Hipermarket is a franchise of Louis Delhaize, which partially owns the Hungarian operation through its unit Cora of France and is separate from the supermarket chains of Belgium's Delhaize.