The European Commission on Friday cleared the takeover of Dutch cable company Ziggo by American giant Liberty Global, on the condition it sells specialist channel Film1.

Liberty Global, the US company which owns the UPC cable group in the Netherlands, made a formal offer of €34.53 a share for Dutch cable market leader Ziggo in January.

Ziggo was founded over five years ago following the merger of three separate cable operators and has 55% of the Dutch market. UPC has around 35%. Neither company has nationwide coverage and their areas do not overlap.

The European Commission said it is satisfied that the sale of UPC’s Film1 channel, and a commitment from both companies to allow television companies to offer their output via internet, ‘ensure that the acquisition of Ziggo will not be detrimental to Dutch consumers’.

The two companies will continue to operate under the name Ziggo.