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JOHANNESBURG, Jan 28 (Reuters) - South Africa's government on Wednesday approved U.S. auto gaint General Motors' (GM) acquisition of the remaining 51 percent of Delta Motor Corporation for an undisclosed amount, the company said.
GM said in a statement that the green light to take over Delta Motor had been given by South Africa's Competition Tribunal.
"We've acquired a company that is well positioned in an important growth market for GM," Maureen Kempston Darkes, GM group vice president and president of the company's Latin America, Africa, Middle East region said.
"With its sound economic and political grounding, South Africa will serve as the platform for our aggressive growth on the African continent."
GM, the world's largest automaker, had held a 49 percent stake in the Eastern Cape-based automotive manufacturer, acquired in 1997 when it returned to South Africa after an 11-year absence.
The acquisition marks GM's return to full ownership of South African operations for the first time since it pulled out of the country in 1986 in protest against the apartheid regime. The deal coincides with the country's celebration of 10 years of post-apartheid democracy.
It joins European and Japanese rivals such as BMW , DaimlerChrysler , Volkswagen and Toyota Motor Corp who have consolidated their positions in South Africa through either wholly owned subsidiaries or majority shareholdings in local units.
South Africa's motor sector is the country's second largest industrial employer, with about 281,500 people, and is ranked among the most technologically advanced in the world.