BRUSSELS, April 4 (Reuters) - French engine and aircraft

equipment maker Safran on Friday secured the green

light from EU antitrust regulators for its $1.8 billion bid for

Collins Aerospace's flight controls business after pledging to

sell a North American actuator business.

Safran announced the deal in 2023, its largest since its

2018 acquisition of seat maker Zodiac seven years ago, to help

it better prepare for the next generation of increasingly

computerised aircraft and expand its portfolio to supply civil

and defence plane makers.

The European Commission said Safran's offer to divest a

business addresses worries that the deal would have reduced

competition in the markets for the supply of trimmable

horizontal stabiliser actuator systems (THSA) and also lead to

higher prices.

"To address the Commission's competition concerns, Safran

offered to divest the entirety of its North American THSA

business, which includes sites in Canada and in the United

States, as well as assets in Mexico," the EU competition

enforcer said in a statement.

The Commission will separately review potential buyer

Woodward which reached a deal to buy the business from Safran

last December.

Reuters was the first to report on imminent EU approval for

the Collins deal. Collins is part of RTX Corp. ( RTX )