Amec Foster Wheeler PLC's proposal to sell almost all of its upstream offshore oil and gas servicing assets may be adequate for regulatory approval of its merger with John Wood Group PLC, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority said.

British oil and gas services company Amec Foster, which is being bought by Wood Group for £ 2.2 billion (US$ 2.8 billion), said earlier in August it was preparing its North Sea operations for sale, in response to the competition watchdog's concerns.

The market regulator said on Aug. 15 the divestiture, or a modified version of it, might be acceptable and that it would open a public consultation in due time.

Wood Group said the companies are not required to complete the sale of the assets before completing the merger.

As a result, the company sees no change in the expected date of completion and continues to expect the deal to close in the fourth quarter of 2017, Wood Group said.