By Tom Fairless
BRUSSELS--Liberty Global PLC (LBTYA) won European Union approval
for its purchase of a controlling stake in De Vijver Media of
Belgium, subject to conditions, the second deal by billionaire John
Malone's international cable group that had come under scrutiny
from regulators in Brussels.
Liberty has been driving consolidation in Europe's fragmented
telecoms industry, seeking to profit from rising demand for bundles
of TV, telecoms and broadband services.
The London-based company owns a majority stake in Belgium's
biggest cable company, Telenet, while De Vijver owns two of
Belgium's Dutch-language TV channels, Vier and Vijf.
The European Commission, the bloc's top antitrust regulator, had
worried that the deal could encourage De Vijver to refuse to
license its channels to TV distributors that compete with
Telenet.
To address those concerns, the merging parties agreed to license
Vier and Vijf to any interested TV distributor in Belgium under
fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. They also agreed to
license linked services such as catch-up TV, as well as any new pay
TV channel that De Vijver might launch under Telenet's basic
channel package in the future.
"It is important that consumers can choose among TV distributors
competing on [an] equal and fair basis," the EU's antitrust chief
Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. "The commitments will
ensure this since Telenet's competitors will be able to distribute
Vier and Vijf and offer these channels to their customers."
The commitments will be in place for seven years, the commission
said.
Liberty has acquired businesses from Romania to Ireland over the
past decade, including the $16-billion purchase of U.K.
cable-television and Internet provider Virgin Media in 2013.
In November, Liberty secured approval from regulators in
Brussels for its EUR10 billion acquisition of Dutch cable operator
Ziggo NV, a deal that created a business that reaches 90% of Dutch
homes.
Write to Tom Fairless at tom.fairless@wsj.com
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