The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) will allow Russia's biggest home electronics retailer, M.Video, to acquire its closest competitor, Eldorado, subject to the combined company selling some assets.
M.Video, which had discussed a merger with Eldorado in 2011, in April requested permission from FAS to acquire 100 percent of Eldorado, according to a report in financial daily Kommersant at the time.
The combined company should sell assets to reduce its market share to 35 percent in each region in which it operates, a representative of the regulator said Thursday.
M.Video generated 158 billion rubles ($5 billion) in revenue last year, up 20 percent on the year. Eldorado had sales of 112 billion rubles, up 15 percent.
As of April 2013, M.Video had 305 stores. Eldorado had 404 stores at the end last year.
A merger would create an even stronger competitor for Media-Saturn, part of German retailer Metro, which entered the market in 2006 and has 45 Russian stores.
