01/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 1 October, the European Commission gave its blessing to the car component manufacturer Faurecia, which is owned by PSA Peugeot Citroën, to purchase the Spanish subsidiary of Plastal AB, a Swedish producer of car parts. Although the activities of the parties overlap on the markets for the production and supply of car bumpers, dashboards and other parts for light vehicles, the Commission concluded that the parties would continue to face several credible competitors and that the entity borne of the merger would not be able to ringfence the market. It is worth noting that on 24 March 2010, the Commission had already authorised Faurecia's purchase of the German subsidiary of Plastal AB. The two transactions are therefore considered as a single merger operation, as they involve the same businesses and the purchase of Plastal Spain, which was notified on 24 August, comes less than two years after the purchase of Plastal Germany. (F.G./transl.fl)