EU Antitrust Regulators Approve Vodafone-Liberty Global Joint Venture
August 03 2016 - 10:52AM
Dow Jones News
By Natalia Drozdiak
BRUSSELS--European Union antitrust regulators on Wednesday
approved plans by Liberty Global PLC and Vodafone Group PLC to set
up a multibillion-dollar Dutch telecoms joint venture on the
condition Vodafone sheds its consumer fixed-line business in the
Netherlands.
Vodafone in February said it would pay Liberty Global EUR1
billion ($1.12 billion) to combine Liberty Global's Dutch cable and
internet businesses with Vodafone's local mobile business. The deal
would value the 50-50 joint venture at roughly EUR3.5 billion in
terms of combined revenue and capital expenditure, after
integration costs.
The European Commission, the bloc's antitrust regulator, said it
initially had concerns the deal would reduce competition in the
markets for fixed multiple play services and fixed-mobile multiple
play services in the Netherlands but that the divestment offered
fully addresses the potential problem.
"The commitments offered by Vodafone ensure that Dutch consumers
will continue to enjoy competitive prices and good choice," said EU
Antitrust Chief Margrethe Vestager.
The EU on Wednesday also said it had rejected a request by the
Dutch competition authority to transfer the merger review to the
regulator in the Netherlands, saying it was better placed to deal
with the case and to ensure that telecoms mergers are assessed in a
consistent way.
Transferring the review to the national regulator may have
complicated the chances of the deal being cleared.
Write to Natalia Drozdiak at natalia.drozdiak@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 03, 2016 10:37 ET (14:37 GMT)
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