The European Commission has approved the acquisition of VAW Aluminium by Norway's Norsk Hydro. "The acquisition, does not give rise to any competition concerns in Europe due to only minor overlaps of the companies' activities and limited market shares," the EC said. While the commission noted that Norsk Hydro and VAW had overlapping activities in primary aluminum and semifinished products (flat-rolled products and extrusions), said "the combined entity's market positions would be relatively small in these markets and would not lead to any competitive concerns." The EC said its' investigation concluded that "there are a number of significant competitors who are internationally active in these markets. Therefore, the proposed transaction will not give rise to any creation or strengthening of a dominant position as a result of which effective competition would be significantly impeded in the European economic area."