Brussels - European Union regulators Tuesday cleared the planned takeover by US soft drinks maker PepsiCo of two of its bottlers after concluding that the deal would not harm consumers.

PepsiCo had been running PepsiAmericas and the Pepsi Bottling Group as separate companies, but announced plans to take over the two bottlers earlier this year.

The 7.8-billion-dollar deal seeks to create one of the world's largest food and beverage companies.

In a statement, the European Commission in Brussels said the proposed transactions would simply lead to greater vertical integration between the brand owner and its bottler, and would therefore not lead "to a significant change in the market structure." (dpa)