BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators on Friday cleared Irish cement firm CRH's (>> CRH PLC) planned 6.5 billion euro (4.67 billion pounds) purchase of a number of mostly European assets from rivals Lafarge and Holcim (>> Holcim Ltd)

The European Commission, which rules on competition issues in the European Union, said in a statement that the transaction would raise no competition concerns because the merged entity would still face sufficiently strong competition.

The sale of the assets was a condition for France Lafarge and Switzerland's Holcim to merge, creating the cement industry's largest company, although Zurich-based Holcim needs to win the support of two-thirds of shareholders at a meeting on May 8.

(Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop)

Stocks treated in this article : LAFARGE, CRH PLC, Holcim Ltd