EU clears Czech energy firm sale to EDF, IPR units

BRUSSELS Oct 7 (Reuters) - European Union antitrust regulators approved on Wednesday the takeover of Czech energy firm Prazska Teplarenska by units of France's EDF (EDF.PA) and Britain's International Power (IPR) (IPR.L) Plc.

The purchase is to be made by International Power Opatovice, controlled by IPR and EDF-controlled energy group EnBW (EBKG.DE) of Germany. The City of Prague is also a member of the takeover group.

"The Commission's investigation found that the proposed merger would not close off the market to competition and a sufficient number of competitors would remain due to the low market shares in the related upstream/downstream markets," the European Commission said in a statement. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, editing by Timothy Heritage)