MUMBAI: The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved plans by Time Warner Inc.and Comcast Corp. to buy bankrupt cable operator Adelphia Communications Corp. FTC said its bureau of competition had closed its investigation into the deal without taking action following a seven-month investigation.

The FTC's five commissioners did not vote on the matter. But in a statement, three commissioners, including chairman Deborah Majoras, said they agreed with staffers in the competition bureau.

"The evidence obtained during the investigation does not suggest that the proposed transactions are likely to substantially lessen competition in any geographic region in the United States," the statement said.

Adelphia accepted a $17.6 billion buyout offer from Time Warner and Comcast in April 2005. The company was hit by a multibillion-dollar bankruptcy in 2002 after its founding Rigas family siphoned off millions of dollars for personal use and overstated key financial results.