P&G, Sara Lee air-care unit deal clears EU regulator

Procter & Gamble Co., the world's largest consumer-products company, said its proposed acquisition of Sara Lee Corp.'s air-care business won approval from European Union antitrust regulators.

"We are very pleased with the positive outcome and will now work with Sara Lee to find the best possible closing date to complete the transaction," Paul Fox, a spokesman for Cincinnati-based P&G, said in an e-mailed statement today.

P&G agreed in December to buy Sara Lee's Ambi Pur brand for about 320 million euros ($396 million) to boost air-freshener sales in Europe, Australia, Africa and Asia. The case was referred to the European Commission in March by regulators in Germany, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and the U.K., who want the EU to examine the deal's effect on competition in their markets.

P&G, maker of Gillette razors and Tide detergent, sells the Febreze air freshener in the U.K. Downers Grove-based Sara Lee, which markets Ball Park hot dogs and Jimmy Dean sausage products, has agreed to sell its body-care business to Unilever and its air-care business to P&G to focus on food and beverages.