EU Commission clears UniCredit, Santander fund management deal

MILAN (Reuters) - The European Commission has approved a long-delayed deal between UniCredit (CRDI.MI) and Santander (SAN.MC) to merge their fund managment businesses, it said on Friday, adding the tie-up did not raise competition concerns.

The deal still needs to be cleared by a number of regulatory authorities, including the European Central Bank, the Bank of Spain and the Bank of Italy.

UniCredit and Santander announced an agreement in April last year to combine Pioneer with Santander Asset Management, in a deal that would create one of Europe's leading asset gatherers with 400 billion euros (304 billion pounds) under management.

However, completion has been delayed by regulatory and governance hurdles. The two banks have said they hope to close the deal by year end.

Earlier this week, four sources close to the matter said the agreement had been put on hold as UniCredit looks for a new boss following the departure of Chief Executive Federico Ghizzoni.

Ghizzoni agreed to step down on Tuesday but will stay on until a successor is found.

(Reporting by Francesca Landini; editing by Susan Thomas)