Brussels, 03/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 31 January, the European Commission gave the go-ahead for General Electric as the purchaser of Thermo Fisher's divestment businesses producing and supplying (i) media and sera for cell culture, (ii) gene silencing products, and (iii) polymer-based magnetic beads. In November, Thermo Fisher committed to divest these three businesses as a condition for the Commission's allowing the acquisition of competitor Life Technologies (see EUROPE 10972). The sell-off is worth US$1 billion and has been authorised by the federal trade commission in the United States after an investigation. The two competition bodies worked with colleagues in Japan, Australia, China and Canada given the complexity of the deal and its impact on world trade. (FG/transl.fl)