PepsiCo Inc

has won U.S. antitrust approval to buy two of its largest bottlers on condition that it take steps to safeguard a rival's business information, the Federal Trade Commission said on Friday.

Under an agreement with the FTC, PepsiCo will set up a firewall to ensure that PepsiCo employees do not see confidential Dr Pepper Snapple Group business information, the agency said in a statement.

The order will be in place for 20 years, the commission said.

Pepsi, which had announced the approval of the $7.8 billion deal late Thursday, said that it planned to close the deal after the market closed Friday.

PepsiCo launched its takeover bid for two bottlers -- Pepsi Bottling Group Inc

and PepsiAmericas Inc

-- in April, and finally struck a deal in August.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

Pepsico