By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Finland's Konecranes and Cargotec are set to take a step closer to creating a global leader in industrial machinery with conditional EU antitrust approval for their 4.5-billion-euro ($5.1 billion) tie-up, a person familiar with the matter said.
The companies, which provide road and sea-cargo handling machinery and services to industries, factories, ports and terminals, announced the deal in October last year but subsequently faced opposition from the European Commission.
Konecranes and Cargotec last month offered to sell assets to address the EU competition enforcer's concerns that the merger may curb competition and push up prices.
Shares in Cargotec and Konecranes sharply trimmed losses after Reuters reported the source's comments. Cargotec closed 3.07% lower, having previously been down 6.44%, while Konecranes ended 2.1% lower against a 5.3% drop previously.
The Commission, which is scheduled to decide on the deal by March 3, declined to comment.
Cargotec said: "As previously communicated we're awaiting the authorities’ decision and do not want speculate on the reactions and views of the competition authorities."
Konecranes, whose second largest shareholder is the Finnish government's investment arm Solidium, declined comment ahead of competition authorities' decisions.
Britain's Competition and Markets Authority in November last year also warned the deal could lead to lower service quality or higher prices for port terminals.
Konecranes and Cargotec on Thursday pushed back their merger to the end of the first half of 2022, saying authorities' remedy requirements were "more complex than expected".
($1 = 0.8747 euros)