EU clears Atlantia, ACS to buy Abertis

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The EU executive on Friday cleared Spain's ACS (ACS.MC) and Italy's Atlantia (ATL.MI) to buy motorway firm Abertis (ABE.MC), saying the purchase would not raise competition concerns.

An agreement between Spain's ACS and Italy's Atlantia to make a joint 18 billion euro bid for Abertis will create a new company which will hold the Spanish toll-road operator's assets and will be jointly run.

"The (European) Commission concluded that the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns in the European Economic Area," the Commission, the European Union's competition supervisor, said in a statement.

(Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; Editing by Alissa de Carbonnel)