Korean Air (003490.KS) said on Tuesday it would complete its acquisition of smaller domestic rival Asiana Airlines (020560.KS) by Dec.11, providing U.S. competition regulators do not raise objections before then.
The 1.8 trillion won ($1.3 billion) deal, first announced four years ago, has been hampered by competition concerns. Data from LSEG and Dealogic shows that the time taken from announcement to completion would be the longest ever for an M&A deal between airlines.
The U.S. Department of Justice would be the last of 14 regulators to approve or de facto greenlight the transaction.
The DOJ declined to comment.
The previous closing date for Korean Air to take a 63.9% stake in indebted Asiana had been Dec. 20.
