BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU competition regulators will decide by Oct. 26 whether to clear Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal's (AS:MT) acquisition of Italian steel plant Ilva, the European Commission said on Friday.
The world's largest steelmaker sought EU approval for the deal with the Italian state-controlled plant on Sept. 21, a filing on the EU website showed.
The Commission can clear the deal with or without conditions or open a full-scale investigation if the companies fail to allay possible competition concerns.
Earlier this month, EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager told Reuters that it was a tricky case but the signs were good because of good cooperation with Italian authorities.
The Italian government has backed the deal between ArcelorMittal and Europe's biggest steel plant by output capacity, which has a serious pollution issue.