BRUSSELS--There are doubts whether effective remedies can be
found to make Hutchinson Whampoa's (0013.HK) Austrian unit's bid to
take over France Telecom's (FTE) Orange Austria acceptable to
European antitrust authorities, European Competition Commissioner
Joaquin Almunia said Tuesday.
In a speech in Cyprus, Mr. Almunia said the proposed $1.6
billion bid would bring the current four competitors in the
national mobile market down to three.
"We have recently adopted a statement of objections in relation
to this proposed merger. At this stage, the question remains
whether effective remedies will be found," he said.
Mr. Almunia said there is a "similar situation" in the pending
merger plans of United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) and TNT Express
(TNTE.AE).
He said that authorities are looking at whether the merged
entity would face enough competition from rivals.
"These companies offer a service that has a broad impact on our
economy, especially for cross-border trade, so it is important that
customers continue to have access to these services at competitive
conditions," he said.
Write to Laurence Norman at Laurence.norman@dowjones.com
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