20/04/2017 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday 19 April, the European Commission announced that it has authorised the planned acquisition of aircraft engine components maker ITP of Spain by aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce of the United Kingdom. The decision is conditional on Rolls-Royce eliminating a conflict of interest concerning the EPI engine consortium. Rolls-Royce, together with ITP, MTU of Germany and Safran of France, is a member of the military engine consortium EPI (Europrop International GmbH). EPI designs and manufactures the engine powering the Airbus A400M, which competes with the Lockheed Martin C-130J aircraft, powered by a Rolls-Royce engine. The Commission feared that as originally notified, the deal would allow Rolls-Royce through its acquisition of ITP to extend its influence on the EPI decision-making process for issues relating to its competitiveness vis-a-vis the Lockheed Martin C-130J. In order to remove these concerns, Rolls-Royce offered commitments in relation to the EPI governance rules. (EL)