EU Clears Liberty Global Acquisition
February 04 2016 - 7:20AM
Dow Jones News
BRUSSELS—The European Union on Thursday approved Liberty Global
PLC's €1.3 billion ($1.43 billion) purchase of Belgian mobile-phone
operator BASE Company NV after the parties offered to sell part of
their customer base to a new virtual mobile operator.
Liberty Global has offered to sell BASE's share in mobile
virtual network operator Mobile Vikings to Belgian broadcaster
Medialaan, said the European Commission, the bloc's top antitrust
regulator. Liberty Global will also transfer part of BASE's
customer base to the broadcaster, it added.
"We have made sure that Liberty Global's merger with BASE will
not reverse the trend of declining mobile prices in Belgium in
recent years," said EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager.
The EU said Liberty Global also struck an agreement with
Medialaan to give the Belgian broadcaster access to BASE's mobile
network, allowing Medialaan to compete as a full mobile virtual
network operator.
The commission had launched a probe into the acquisition in
October over concerns the consolidation could lead to higher prices
and less choice for consumers.
Since assuming her current post more than a year ago, Ms.
Vestager has signaled that some telecommunications mergers in the
region could face scrutiny from her agency, particularly in cases
where mobile-phone mergers reduce the number of operators in a
given country from four to three.
"The remedies adequately address the commission's concerns since
they ensure that a new mobile virtual network operator will enter
the retail mobile market, to compensate for the loss of
competition," the EU said in a statement.
The deal, announced last April, is expected to make Liberty
Global's Telenet Group Holding NV mobile business more competitive
and boost its presence in Belgium, where Liberty Global has looked
for growth.
BASE is the third-largest mobile network operator in Belgium
with 3.3 million mobile subscribers and notched adjusted revenue of
€690 million last year. Its current owner is Dutch
telecommunications company Royal KPN NV.
Write to Natalia Drozdiak at natalia.drozdiak@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 04, 2016 07:05 ET (12:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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