SYDNEY, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Australia's competition regulatorsaid on Friday it will not oppose a three part deal betweenNovartis and GlaxoSmithKline to trade morethan $20 billion worth of assets, following approval from EUregulators.
The companies agreed last April to the transaction thatincludes GSK buying Novartis' vaccines business, Novartispurchasing GSK's cancer drugs, and the two groups tying up inconsumer healthcare.
The Swiss drugmaker will buy London-based GSK's oncologyproducts for $14.5 billion plus another $1.5 billion thatdepends on the results of a trial in melanoma.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said itwas satisfied the deals, subject to undertakings given by thecompanies, were unlikely to substantially reduce competition. (Reporting by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Stephen Coates)