As reported in Recruiter's breaking news alert on Thursday, Dutch staffing giant Randstad has announced the European Commission decision to give clearance to its proposed 3.3bn euro (GBP2.65bn) takeover of rival Vedior.

Randstad reiterated it had undertaken to sell its Portuguese operations to get the approval and it plans to hold an extraordinary shareholder meeting on 23 April. The offer will close on 9 May.
The takeover will create the world's second-biggest jobs company after Switzerland's Adecco.

Randstad shares were up 3% at 27.37 Euros (GBP21.96) at 1416 GMT, while Vedior was up 2% at 18.09 Euros (GBP14.51).