Smiths Group gets EC clearance for Morpho Detection acquisition

19th Jan 2017 11:35

(ShareCast News) - Diversified engineer Smiths Group has received clearance from the European Commission for its proposed acquisition of Morpho Detection from Safran.The EC said its approval is conditional on the divestiture of Morpho's explosive trace detection business, which it reckons should fully remove the overlap for explosive trace detectors resulting from the merger as initially notified."The purchaser of the divested explosive trace detector business will be able to replace Morpho Detection on the market. It will exert the same level of competitive constraint on Smiths with regard to both the supply of explosive trace detectors to airports in Europe and to the supply of non-aviation customers worldwide," the Commission said.Smiths welcomed the EC's decision and noted completion of the acquisition is still conditional upon approval from authorities in the US and certain other territories, among other conditions."Smiths Group continues to engage with these authorities in order to secure the necessary clearances as soon as possible."At 1155 GMT, Smiths shares were down 0.1% to 1,492p.