Consob, the Italian securities regulator, has paved the way for Italenergia to take over Italian utilities group Montedison.

Consob said that Italenergia, a consortium comprising French utility Electricité de France, Italian auto group Fiat, and three Italian banks, must include a warning in the offer document that the deal could be investigated by the European competition authorities. However, a source close to the €5.42bn ($4.7bn) deal said this was a fairly standard issue. Italenergia increased its offer for Montedison on Monday by 9%, said the source, taking into account recent movements in the market of Montedison's share price. Italenergia already holds 52% of the Montedison shares. Goldman Sachs is adviser to Montedison, Lazard is advising Fiat, and Deutsche Bank is working for EdF.