The European Commission’s competition regulators could give the green light to CK Hutchison and VimpelCom’s plan to merge their mobile operations in Italy as soon as next week, according to Bloomberg.
Citing two unnamed sources, the news agency said EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager is likely to hold a press conference to announce the decision, which would be ahead of the provisional EC deadline of 8 September.
CK Hutchison and VimpelCom said in August last year that they planned to merge 3 Italia and Wind Italia, creating a new fixed-mobile giant in Italy that would be in a stronger position to compete with Telecom Italia and Vodafone Italia.
Approval of the €21.8 billion deal would not come as much of a surprise: Reuters reported in July that concessions put forward by CK Hutchison and VimpelCom to enable the creation of a new mobile network operator would be enough to persuade Vestager and her colleagues to allow the merger to go ahead.
Under an agreement with CK Hutchison and VimpelCom, liad is to launch a new fourth mobile operator in Italy through the acquisition of assets and spectrum from the merged entity.
Full Content: Total Tele
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
DOJ and FTC Introduce Website for Reporting Anti-Competitive Healthcare Practices
Apr 18, 2024 by
CPI
US Congress Advances Legislation to Compel TikTok Sale
Apr 18, 2024 by
CPI
UK Financial Sector Advocates Enhanced Regulatory Accountability
Apr 18, 2024 by
CPI
Google and All 50 States Defend $700 Million Consumer Settlement
Apr 18, 2024 by
CPI
Colorado Enacts First Law to Protect Consumer Brainwave Data
Apr 18, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Economics of Criminal Antitrust
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Navigating Economic Expert Work in Criminal Antitrust Litigation
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
The Increased Importance of Economics in Cartel Cases
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
A Law and Economics Analysis of the Antitrust Treatment of Physician Collective Price Agreements
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Information Exchange In Criminal Antitrust Cases: How Economic Testimony Can Tip The Scales
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI