Brussels, 27/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 27 October, the European Commission cleared the proposed acquisition by American soft drinks producer PepsiCo, Inc. of PepsiAmericas (PAS) and of The Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG), both bottlers of Pepsi-Cola brand drinks. The two distinct acquisitions were approved in separate procedures. PAS bottles and sells drinks produced by PepsiCo in the US, and Central and Eastern Europe. It also manufactures Pepsi-Cola beverages in some regions. PGB is a bottler of carbonated soft drinks and other ready to drink beverages. It currently does business in the US, Mexico, Canada, Spain, Russia, Greece and Turkey. In this transaction, the parties' activities overlap only in Greece. For both acquisitions, the Commission concluded that there would be no competition concerns, in particular since commercial relations between the companies will not change in any significant way. (C.D./transl.rt)