BRUSSELS Europe's biggest cable operator Liberty Global Inc. received the green light Monday for its $22.5 billion acquisition of Virgin Media Inc., the U.K.'s second-largest pay-TV operator, after the European Union said the acquisition raised no competition concerns.

Market analysts said the Virgin Media deal will likely reinforce Douglas County-based Liberty Global's challenge against BSkyB, the U.K.'s top pay-TV provider, owned by Rupert Murdoch. News Corp., which owns The Wall Street Journal, is BSkyB's largest shareholder, with a 39.1 percent stake.

The European Commission, which acts as the EU's antitrust watchdog, said the companies operate cable networks in different EU countries, and that the merged entity would have only a limited market position in the wholesale of TV channels in the U.K. and Ireland.

Liberty Global said the transaction was still subject to majority approval from both shareholders. "The respective shareholder meetings, as well as the closing of the transaction, are expected to occur in the second quarter of 2013," said Marcus Smith, a spokesman for the company.

In its review, the commission said it had looked into the TV content acquisition sector in the U.K., Ireland and the European Economic Area as a whole. It also investigated the vertical link between Liberty Global's activities in the wholesale supply of pay-TV channels, it said.

"It is unlikely that the merged entity would shut out competing TV channel broadcasters from access to the retail Pay-TV market," the commission said in its statement.

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Liberty Global receives European Commission nod to acquire Virgin Media