EU Approves Thermo Fisher's Dionex Buy

Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world's largest maker of scientific instruments, secured EU regulatory clearance on Friday to buy chromatography systems maker Dionex Corp for $2.1 billion.

Thermo Fisher unveiled the deal in December last year and it will reinforce its presence in Asia and strengthen its lab equipment operations.

The European Commission, the EU competition watchdog, said Thermo Fisher and Dionex were not each others' closest competitors and the combined entity would continue to face significant competition.

"The Commission examined the competitive effects of the proposed acquisition in the areas of ion chromatography, high pressure liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, consumables, related software and distribution," it said in a statement."The examination showed that the combination of Thermo Fisher's and Dionex's activities will not lead to competition concerns in any of the relevant markets," it said.