The European Commission has approved SK Hynix’s acquisition of Intel’s NAND flash and solid-state drive businesses.

The approval brings the South Korean semiconductor giant one step closer to officially closing the US$9 billion takeover.

The deadline for the European regulators to decide on the merger passed this week with no issues with SK Hynix confirming the approval.

US market watchdogs including the Federal Trade Commission and the Committee on Foreign Investment, have also given SK Hynix Intel deal the green light.

Under the deal, SK Hynix will take over Intel’s NAND flash as well as its memory and storage wafer fabrication plant in Dalian, China.  SK Hynix still needs approval from other governments but hopes to finish the process this year.