Brussels, 05/09/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission gave the green light to the merger operation between the German companies ZF Gotha and Graziano Transmissioni. Subsidiary of Friedrishshafen AG, ZF Gotha is specialised in the design, manufacturing and sale of transmission components for lift truck vehicles. Graziano Transmissioni is a subsidiary of the Swiss company Saurer AG active in the same sector. This operation will give birth to a joint venture named ZF Graziano Materials handling Components GmbH and will be controlled by the two partners. It gathers together their respective activities in the field of transmission units for lift trick vehicles, sector in which it becomes the main supplier within the European Union. Overlaps exist in the specific fields of transmission for electric motor rider trucks and internal combustion trucks. Furthermore, the combined market share will be considerable in Italy. Nevertheless the Commission authorised the operation, believing that there exists several smaller, but powerful competitors present in the Italian market and Community market in general. Furthermore, the demand side - the lift truck vehicle industry - is highly concentrated and therefore particularly strong in the market.