Brussels, March 27 - Radeberger Gruppe Holding, a German beverage distributor, won permission from the European Commission on Thursday to buy peers Essmann and Phoenix.
Radeberger belongs to the Oetker Group and is one of Germany's largest breweries. It is also active in the wholesale of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
Essmann is mainly active in the wholesale distribution of beverages in the federal states of Lower Saxony, Bremen, North Rhine Westphalia and Saxony-Anhalt and, to a limited extent through its subsidiary Phoenix, in beer production.
"Concerning the production of beer, the proposed merger would bring about only a very modest increment in the merged entity's market share, which would have hardly any influence on Radeberger's market position," the Commission, the European Union's top competition regulator, said in a statement.
"Through the proposed transaction, Radeberger would strengthen its activities in the wholesale of beverages. However, the parties' combined market share would only be slightly above 15 percent in Lower Saxony and Bremen and in the other federal states where Essmann is active it would be below 15 percent," it said.
Customers would therefore have a choice of alternative suppliers after the merger, the Commission said.