The EU approved the €48 billion merger of French ophthalmic lens maker Essilor International SA with Italian eyewear seller Luxottica Group SpA.
The merger was cleared without any conditions attached, confirming previous reports of an unconditional approval.
Essilor is the world's largest supplier of ophthalmic lenses and Luxottica, the owner of Ray-Ban and Oakley, is the largest supplier of eyewear in the world. The companies expect to finalize the deal in the first half of 2018.
The European Commission's head of competition policy, Margrethe Vestager, said the two companies "would not gain market power to harm competition."
The merger will give the two companies combined revenue of over €15 billion and a presence in more than 150 countries.
The European Commission, which said the two companies' products do not compete with each other, added that it cooperated with other antitrust bodies like the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and authorities of Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Israel, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and Turkey.
The deal has so far been approved unconditionally in 13 other countries besides the union — Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, India, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, South Korea and Taiwan — the companies said.
