Brussels, 29/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 29 November, the European Commission gave the go-ahead to the acquisition of Invensys of the United Kingdom by Schneider Electric of France. Both companies supply automation and control systems. The Commission examined the impact of the deal (a €3.9 billion public bid) on competition in the markets for the sale of human machine interface (HMI) software, operator panels and process safety systems in the EEA and at worldwide level. HMI software assists operators in managing control machinery for industries and processes via a computer-based graphical user interface. The Commission found that customers do not view Schneider Electric and Invensys as each other's closest competitors. The Commission's investigation also revealed that the two companies have complementary activities, with Schneider Electric mostly focused on automation and control for discrete industries, while Invensys is mainly active in automation and control for process industries. It has also been confirmed that the merged entity would continue to face competition from a number of other strong players, such as Siemens, ABB, Emerson and Rockwell Automation. The deal, notified on 24 October 2013, does not, therefore, raise any competition concerns. (FG/transl.fl)