EU executive conditionally approves Daimler, BMW car-sharing deal

The European Union`s competition authority said on Wednesday it had approved the plan of German luxury carmakers Daimler and BMW to combine their car-sharing businesses, subject to conditions.

Under the deal, which includes car-sharing units Car2Go and DriveNow as well as ride-hailing, parking and charging services, Daimler and BMW will each hold 50 percent stakes in a joint venture.

They have offered concessions to address EU antitrust concerns over the deal they hope would let them better compete with U.S. rival Uber and China`s Didi Chuxing.

The European Commission has found the deal would raise competition concerns for free-floating car sharing services in Berlin, Cologne, Duesseldorf, Hamburg, Munich and Vienna. It said Daimler and BMW agreed to a remedy package in the six cities.

"The commitments thus fully address the Commission`s concerns as they will reduce the barriers to entry for competing free-floating car sharing providers," the Commission said in a statement.

"Therefore the Commission concluded that the proposed transaction, as modified by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns. The Commission`s decision is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments."