The European Commission (EC) approved a proposed mega-merger between US giants AT&T and Time Warner, ruling unsurprisingly the tie-up did not raise competition concerns in Europe.

AT&T struck the $85.4 billion deal to acquire Time Warner in October 2016, and it is currently going through a rigorous approval process in the US and internationally.

In a statement, the EC said “there are no overlaps between the parties’ activities in the EEA”, and the deal was examined under its simplified merger review procedure.

Although AT&T is the second largest operator in the US, and a growing force in Mexico, the operator has a limited presence in Europe where it provides telecoms services only to business customers.

Indeed, the impact of the deal will predominately be felt in the US, where AT&T is looking to beef up its entertainment distribution activities and accelerate the next-generation of wireless broadband.

After being cleared by the EC, AT&T’s senior EVP for external and legislative affairs Bob Quinn, said the global clearance process was “on track”.

“We appreciate the skilled work of the European Commission’s team for their timely effort to analyse and clear the AT&T-Time Warner merger. This is an important approval from a highly respected authority.”