The European Commission said on Wednesday it had given conditional approval for U.S. food group Kraft Foods Inc  to take over British confectionery maker Cadbury. The European Union executive said in a written statement the hostile bid was conditional on Kraft's divestment of Cadbury's Polish and Romanian chocolate confectionery businesses.

The combination of Kraft and Cadbury would create the world's largest sweets, chewing-gum and chocolate group, overtaking Mars-Wrigley.

The Commission took its decision after Kraft offered concessions last month to ease regulatory concerns that its bid for Cadbury could be anticompetitive. "In view of the remedies offered, I am satisfied that the proposed takeover would not adversely affect competition anywhere in Europe and that consumers would not be worse off," Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said.

Source: Reuters

The Commission made clear that while both Kraft and Cadbury were strong global players, Kraft was not so dominant in Britain and Ireland, where Cadbury is the market leader.