By Ian Walker

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority said Friday that is has started an investigation into Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.'s planned $17.4 billion acquisition of PPD Inc. to see if it would lead to a lessening of competition.

The regulator said that it has set a deadline of Dec. 10 for its phase 1 decision. It has also invited comments from interested parties ahead of a further review with a deadline of Nov. 1.

Thermo Fisher said on April 15 that it had agreed to buy pharmaceutical-testing company PPD.

Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

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