Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Cristal Union, a French sugar maker, said it received antitrust approval to buy competitor Groupe Vermandoise and create the country’s second-largest producer of the sweetener.

France’s Competition Authority approved the takeover unconditionally on Jan. 20, Cristal Union, based in Villette- sur-Aube, said today in an e-mailed statement. The authorization will allow the transfer of control of Vermandoise to Cristal Union “in the coming days,” the company said.

Tereos is the country’s biggest sugar producer.

--Editors: John Deane, Sharon Lindores

To contact the reporter on this story: Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris at rruitenberg@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net