Brussels, 29/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - The Commission has approved the proposed acquisition by German company Bayer AG of the pharmaceutical company Schering AG, which is active in five global business areas: gynaecology and andrology, diagnostic imaging, specialised therapeutics, oncology and dermatology. The main overlaps are in a few over-the-counter and prescription anti-fungal markets. Bayer and Schering have their most important combined market shares (over 35%) in three of these markets: gynaecological anti-fungals in Portugal, topical dermatological anti-fungals in Austria and combinations of corticosteroids with anti-fungals in Ireland. However, for all the markets where activities overlap, the Commission concluded that the proposed transaction would not significantly impede effective competition, with the combined entity facing several strong competitors.