FLORENCE, Italy--The European Union's antitrust chief said he
doesn't expect to block any more mergers before he leaves office at
the end of October, indicating that his agency is set to approve
Liberty Global PLC's 4.9 billion euro ($6.3 billion) takeover of
Dutch cable operator Ziggo.
"I don't expect any other negative decisions (on mergers) until
the end of October," Joaquin Almunia said in a speech here.
The European Commission, which acts as the EU's central
antitrust authority, opened a detailed investigation of Liberty's
purchase of Ziggo in May, warning that the deal could increase the
merged entity's negotiation power towards content owners and TV
channel suppliers. A decision on the case is due by Nov. 3.
The commission is also reviewing Facebook's $19 billion purchase
of messaging system WhatsApp. Mr. Almunia is due to decide by Oct.
3 whether to approve the deal or open a more detailed investigation
if he sees potential risks to competition. The latter course would
likely leave a final decision to Mr. Almunia's successor, former
Danish economy minister Margrethe Vestager.
Write to Tom Fairless at tom.fairless@wsj.com
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