|
The Netherlands' antitrust watchdog on Wednesday asked the European Commission for permission to review Liberty Global and Vodafone's planned merger.
Vodafone and Liberty Global – which offers cable broadband and TV services in the Netherlands under the Ziggo brand – agreed to combine their businesses into a 50:50 joint venture in February.
The merger brings together the country's second-largest mobile operator and its largest cableco in a bid to mount a stronger challenge to incumbent KPN.
The deal was referred to Brussels in mid-June, but now domestic regulator, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), wants to review it.To this end, ACM has filed a referral request with the European Commission," the ACM said, in a brief statement on Wednesday. "The European Commission will assess which is the most appropriate authority to conduct the investigation; the European Commission itself or [the] ACM."
The U.K.'s antitrust watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in October 2015 made a similar request pertaining to the proposed merger of O2 UK and 3UK.
In December, the Commission rejected the CMA's request, arguing that it was better placed to ensure the consistent application of merger control rules.
Whether it will draw the same conclusion with regard to Vodafone and Ziggo remains to be seen.
The ACM said it expects the Commission to decide in early August who will carry out the investigation.
|
.jpg)
