EU regulators clear with conditions UniCredit's acquisition of Banco BPM

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -EU antitrust regulators on Thursday approved with conditions Italian bank UniCredit's takeover of rival Banco BPM.

UniCredit agreed to sell 209 branches in northern Italy to allay competition concerns.

"These commitments fully address the competition concerns identified by the Commission, by removing the horizontal overlap between the companies' activities in those areas and ensuring that competition is preserved," the European Commission said in a statement.

The EU said it had declined a request from the Italian competition authority to refer the merger to it for assessment under Italian competition law.

Italy had invoked its "golden powers" over the bid, on the grounds of national security concerns and to set the terms of UniCredit's offer. UniCredit had challenged the government-imposed conditions, with a court hearing set for next month.

"The Commission has a particular interest in ensuring that competition is preserved in sectors such as banking and insurance, which are of crucial importance for the economic development of the Capital Market Union and Savings and Investment Union," the commission said in its statement.

"Moreover, the Commission is well placed to deal with the transaction as it has developed significant expertise in analysing banking markets," the EU said.

Reuters reported on June 10 that the deal would be cleared after UniCredit agreed to asset sales.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Makini Brice; editing by David Evans)