Regulators OK Unilever Purchase of Bestfoods

European regulators cleared a $20-billion deal under which consumer goods giant Unilever would purchase Bestfoods, creating the world’s biggest food company. The European Commission imposed several conditions on the deal, including the sale of a significant number of brands such as Lesieur, Royco and Oxo. Without the divestments, the acquisition would have produced competition problems in the food service sector in Scandinavia, Ireland and Britain, the commission said. Unilever, an Anglo-Dutch conglomerate, owns Lipton tea, Ragu spaghetti sauce, Vaseline and Pepsodent toothpaste and recently bought the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream business. Bestfoods brands include Hellman’s mayonnaise and Knorr stock cubes. Unilever’s American depositary receipts rose 69 cents to close at $25.50 on the NYSE.