The European Union announced on Thursday that it had given the okay for Teva Pharmaceuticals’ $40.5 billion deal to buy Allergan's generic drug business, provided the companies sell some operations in Europe to ease antitrust concerns.

The companies agreed to divest a number of assets, including Teva’s portfolio of generics in Iceland and most of the Allergan generics business in Britain and Ireland, to meet the European Commission’s concerns.

Teva's agreement to purchase Allergan’s generics unit, made last July, establishes the Israeli company as the largest manufacturer of generic drugs

In December, Teva announced that it had begun divesting about $1 billion worth of assets to address U.S. antitrust concerns. The deal is still subject to approval by regulators in the United States.

Read the NY Times article