TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) on Friday (July 15) gave its conditional approval to a bid by PX Mart to acquire partly French-owned hypermarket operator RT-Mart for NT$11.5 billion (US$384.02 million).

Last November, supermarket group PX Mart announced its intention to take over the chain owned by France’s Auchan and Taiwan’s Ruentex Group. RT-Mart manages 20 hypermarkets and two convenience stores in Taiwan.

PX Mart Chairman Lin Ming-hsiung (林敏雄) said Friday his aim was to combine the experience of both retail teams, but to maintain the separate brands, CNA reported. He confirmed the price tag for the offer, adding it would buy 95.97% of RT-Mart.

The FTC reportedly decided at a July 13 meeting to allow the takeover to go ahead, though on the condition that after the merger, the general economic benefit would take precedent over limits to competition. The government body cautioned against unfair price rises for consumers and suppliers, and asked PX Mart to present annual reports about related measures for three years following the takeover.