BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Novo Holdings on Friday gained unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $16.5 bln acquisition of U.S. contract drug maker Catalent ( CTLT ) after EU regulators said they did not see any competition issues.

Novo Holdings, the controlling shareholder of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, which makes the blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy, had announced the deal in February.

"The proposed merger would not raise competition concerns on any of the markets examined in the EEA (European Economic Area) or on any substantial part of it," the European Commission said in a statement, confirming a Reuters story.

The EEA refers to the 27 EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

The EU antitrust watchdog said there are sufficient competing alternatives in the market.

Soaring sales of Wegovy have made Novo Nordisk Europe's most valuable company by market value.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, additional reporting by Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt)