The competition watchdog has cleared the way for an Asian consortium to buy Australia's biggest foodmaker, Goodman Fielder.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says it will not oppose the $1.3 billion takeover by Singapore-based agribusiness Wilmar International and Hong Kong investment firm First Pacific Company.
One of the concerns the ACCC had about the deal was the possibility a takeover could help push up the price of vegetable oils in Australia.
Goodman owns brands including Crisco and Gold'N Canola, while Wilmar supplies imported packaged oils which supermarkets sell under their private labels.
But ACCC chairman Rod Sims said Wilmar and Goodman Fielder would continue to face competition from rival oil suppliers if the takeover went ahead.
"Packaged vegetable oil can be readily imported from international suppliers," he said in a statement on Thursday.
"Wilmar currently supplies oil from its offshore facilities and there are other international suppliers capable of supplying the Australian market."
The bidders are still waiting for regulatory approval from China.
A meeting of Goodman Fielder shareholders to approve the takeover had been expected to be held in late November, subject to regulatory approvals.
However, the meeting has been pushed back to early 2015 because obtaining regulatory approval from China is taking longer than expected.
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