BRUSSELS, Oct 30 - European Union antitrust regulators willdecide by Dec. 23 whether to clear U.S. drinks can maker BallCorp's 4.43-billion-pound ($6.8 billion) proposedtakeover of British peer Rexam, a two-week delay agreedwith the companies.
The European Commission's previous deadline was Dec. 9.
"The Commission decided with the agreement of the parties toextend the in-depth investigation by 10 working days, asforeseen in the merger regulation," spokesman Ricardo Cardososaid in an email.
The world's two largest beverage can makers by volume arelooking to merge to better manage capital spending and costs.However, the EU competition enforcer is concerned that the dealwould push up prices for companies and consumers.
Ball has said it is prepared to sell assets with sales ofmore than $1.58 billion to fend off regulatory worries. It islikely to offer concessions next month.
($1 = 0.6520 pounds) (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Robert-Jan Bartunek)
