The European Commission has extended to 9 March 2016 its deadline for the investigation into the proposed deal.
OPI reported on the new deadline, which follows the extension of the original deadline to 2 March 2016 earlier this month.
This means the original deadline, 10 February, has been extended by the maximum of 20 working days for the EU’s merger regulations. The European Commission did not give a reason for the further delay, although Brussels has been in lockdown for the past five days following the attacks in Paris.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is also examining the takeover, and also with an extended deadline, set for 8 December, while it has already been approved in Australia, New Zealand and China.