The European Commission has approved the merger of insurance and pension brokers Marsh & McLennan and the Sedgwick Group, which means all regulatory hurdles have been cleared and the deal can be completed. The Commission says competition from other providers and the power of customers to switch to alternative forms of risk management will prevent the new entity from dominating the European broker sector. In the Republic, Irish Pensions Trust (IPT) is owned by Sedgwick, while Mercer Ireland is owned by March & McLennan. IPT is market leader in the group pensions business in the Republic, with Mercer in second place.

The combined operation in Ireland will have just under 300 employees and will have more than 50 per cent of the pensions market.

Some sources in the pensions industry have speculated that the worldwide merger of the two groups might mean that either IPT or Mercer is sold off. However, this has been denied by Mercer's chairman in the Republic, Mr Jim Kelly.

The Commission investigated the impact on Irish and British markets for the provision of retirement and employee benefits' consulting services. It says its investigation led to the conclusion that "competition will remain viable. In addition, to existing competition from local consultants and from insurance companies, the investigation has concluded that the parties will increasingly face competition from large international consulting firms".