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UK: O2 and Three braced for tough merger conditions from Brussels

By  |  January 17, 2016

European officials expected to lay down tough rules this week before allowing proposed £10.25bn deal go ahead

Three’s attempted takeover of rival mobile operator O2 will face a major hurdle from Brussels this week as policymakers are expected to attach prohibitive concessions to the proposed £10.25bn deal.

European competition officials are investigating plans by CK Hutchison, the Hong-Kong-based owner of Three, to buy O2 from its Spanish owner Telefonica, with a decision due in March.

But the European Commission is expected to demand harsh concessions in preliminary findings due this week, following three months of deliberation.

Three, which commands 11pc of the UK mobile market, could be told to sell off network capacity to rival firms before it can buy O2, as the EC attempts to row back on mobile companies consolidating.

The deal has proven more contentious than BT’s £12.5bn unconditional takeover of EE, approved on Friday by the Competition and Markets Authority.

Full content: The Sunday Times

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