E ON : EU regulators to rule on RWE's Innogy breakup deal by Feb. 26

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators will decide by Feb. 26 whether to wave through German utility RWE breakup of its networks and renewables unit Innogy with the assets to be divided between RWE and E.ON.

RWE said on Tuesday it had sought European Commission approval for the deal with the aim of completing the transaction in the second half of 2019.

The EU competition enforcer confirmed the request. It can either clear the deal after the preliminary review with or without conditions or open a five-month long investigation if it has serious concerns.

Innogy is Germany's largest energy group by market valuation while RWE, Germany's largest electricity producer, would become Europe's third-largest renewable player after Spain's Iberdrola and Italy's Enel.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Edmund Blair)