Brussels, 04/11/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Commission has approved the operation in which Finmeccanica, an Italian manufacturer of commercial and military aircraft and other defence technology products, will acquire Marconi Mobile, the Italian subsidiary of Marconi Plc, which produces military communication systems. The investigation did not turn up any competition problems on the Italian market, the only one where the merger will have an impact, because the activities of the two firms in question are largely complementary. Finmeccanica S.p.A designs and manufactures military and civil aircraft, helicopters and satellites, missile systems, radar, components for power generation, trains and information technology services. Marconi Mobile Holdings S.p.A. (MMH), incorporated under the laws of Italy and wholly-owned by the UK firm Marconi Plc, designs and produces communications and information systems for military customers, police forces and government agencies. The effects of the transaction are limited to supplies for the Italian armed forces. The activities of Finmeccanica and MMH are largely complementary. The two enterprises are both active in military avionics, but the Commission observed that they specialise in different productive sectors and that they have not competed with each other in the past. It therefore concluded that the merger would not affect competition conditions in the military avionics sector in Italy from a horizontal perspective.