Japanese steelmakers Nippon Steel Corporation and Sumitomo Metal Industries have announced that they have received necessary approvals from the relevant authorities both in and outside Japan regarding the merger of the two companies.
The merger is scheduled to be fully completed on October 1, 2012, after a merger agreement is executed in April this year and the agreement is approved by shareholders of the companies in June.
The Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China has notified that it will not prohibit the merger of the two companies. The Japan Fair Trade Commission had already approved the merger on December 14, 2011.