| The two companies have a strong position in their home markets for dark tobacco and a near monopoly in wholesale tobacco distribution, the Commission said in a statement after a routine one-month probe.
But internationally the new company, to be called Altadis, will be only the sixth tobacco player with a share of 2.7 percent, it added, far behind world leader Philip Morris (NYSE:MO - news), BAT (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BATS.L) and its subsidiary Rothmans and Japan Tobacco , which owns R.J. Reynolds.
In the 15-nation European Union Altadis will be the third tobacco company with a 13.6-percent market share, behind Philip Morris and BAT/Rothmans.
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