The European Commission on Friday approved Tata Steel's proposed acquisition of Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus.

"The European Commission has cleared under the EU merger regulation the proposed acquisition by the Indian steel producer Tata Steel of Corus Group Plc," the Brussels-based regulator said in a statement.

The Commission is expected to announce its decision on a rival bid for Corus by Brazilian steel firm CSN by February 5, 2007.

Tata Steel is in the middle of a takeover battle for Corus with Brazilian steelmaker CSN, which had made a higher bid of 515 pence per Corus share as against 500

pence by the Indian company. While CSN's bid values Corus at 4.9 billion pounds, Tata's offer is slightly lower at $4.7 billion.

Earlier this month, British takeover regulators set a deadline of January 30 for the two companies to place their final offers on the table. The Indian steel major has already won the approval from US anti-trust authorities for Corus acquisition.


The Tata-Corus saga