Novo Holdings' $16.5 billion Catalent buy wins EU antitrust approval

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Novo Holdings on Friday gained unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $16.5 bln acquisition of U.S. contract drug maker Catalent after EU regulators said they did not see any competition issues.

Novo Holdings, the controlling shareholder of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, which makes the blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy, said it now expects to close the deal by year end.

"The proposed merger would not raise competition concerns on any of the markets examined in the EEA (European Economic Area) or on any substantial part of it," the European Commission said in a statement, confirming a Reuters story.

The EEA refers to the 27 EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

The EU antitrust watchdog said there are sufficient competing alternatives in the market.

"With the European Commission's approval, we are one step closer to delivering the benefits of this transaction," said Jonathan Levy, senior partner at Novo Holdings.

Soaring sales of Wegovy have made Novo Nordisk Europe's most valuable company by market value.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, additional reporting by Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt; Editing by Louise Heavens)

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