China has approved HP’s purchase of Samsung Electronics’ printer business, Reuters has announced. The deal, worth $1.1 billion, does come with ‘certain restrictions’, Reuters says, adding there were also concerns about HP’s dominance in the domestic laser printer market.

The deal was announced by HP last year in September, as HP wanted to disrupt the market. It hoped to close the deal within 12 months, pending regulations.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce issued a statement yesterday evening, saying the deal should be done on ‘fair and reasonable’ terms. It also said the company needs to report once every half a year, detailing on pricing and other relevant data to the ministry itself.

It also said that HP cannot buy any stakes in other A4 printer makers in China, not even a minority equity investment. There cannot be any compatibility restrictions to third parties, or any advertising that would claim such a thing. HP expects the deal to be finalised before the end of the year, but declined to comment on regulatory processes.

The deal would see HP’s intellectual property portfolio grow by 6,500 printing patents. The company will add almost 1,300 researchers and laser printing engineering experts.