EU approves BAE-VT shipbuilding joint venture

Britain's BAE Systems (BAES.L: Quote, Profile , Research) and VT Group (VTG.L: Quote, Profile , Research) won permission from the European Commission on Wednesday to merge their shipbuilding operations.

BAE will hold 55 percent and VT the remainder, and the deal will involve BAE selling its 50 percent stake in Flagship Training Ltd to VT for up to 75 million pounds ($152.6 million).

"There has been little if any competition between BAE and VT for the design and building of naval surface ships in the UK in the past ten years, as each company has focussed on different classes of ships," the Commission said in a statement.

It said the two companies had not bid against each other in the design or building of a naval surface ship in the past decade, and so there was no problem with the venture.