The British Competition Authority on Friday finally approved the acquisition of British rival Avast by NortonLifeLock, saying that the security software market will remain competitive after the merger of two of the largest players worth $ 8.6 billion.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed its preliminary decision to allow the transaction last month, removing the last major hurdle after it was given the green light in the United States, Spain and Germany.

The CMA said the merged company would face significant competition from McAfee and other smaller players, while software titan Microsoft Corp’s security software was now as good as that of specialist providers.

NortonLifeLock said after the preliminary decision that it expected to be able to close the deal this month.