The European Commission said today it had reopened its investigation into SEB's purchase of bankrupt rival Moulinex's operations in five countries and had set a November 25th deadline for its conclusion.
The European Union executive had suspended its investigation in July to seek further information about the deal.
"We have received all the information we requested," spokeswoman Ms Amelia Torres told reporters.
The Commission has said it is worried that SEB, a French small electrical appliance manufacturer, would have too much market power in Ireland, Italy, Finland, Spain and Britain if the deal went ahead in its original form.
The Commission had initially approved the deal in those five states without conditions, but was forced to reconsider in April by a ruling of the Court of First Instance, the second-highest court in the 15-nation EU.
The court said the Commission should have considered the possibility that the combination of Moulinex and SEB might leave distributors and merchants with little alternative to the new company in those five countries.
That would give the firm the power to raise prices under a theory known as "portfolio effects". So the court told the Commission to go back to the drawing board.