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EC approves Telefonica takeover of E-Plus
2014-07-02 11:48:00| Telecompaper Headlines
(Telecompaper) The European Commission has approved Telefonica's takeover of German mobile operator E-Plus from KPN. The merger of E-Plus with Telefonica's O2 will reduce the German market to three mobile networks from four and is expected to help O2 compete better with market leaders Telekom Deutschland and Vodafone. To secure approval for the takeover, Telefonica committed to reserve up to 30 percent of its network capacity for MVNOs. It earlier announced an agreement to provide the network capacity to Drillisch. Telefonica will also be required to divest spectrum to a new player on the market and maintain all its existing wholesale contracts. The takeover of E-Plus was first announced almost a year ago and will see KPN receive EUR 5 billion cash and a 20.5 percent stake in the merged company. The Dutch operator is exiting the German market in order to focus more on its home market. Telefonica will hold 62.1 percent in the German subsidiary, while the remainder is listed on the stock market.
Tags: approves
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EU clears Telefonica Deutschland's E-Plus acquisition
2014-07-02 02:00:00| Total Telecom industry news
Commission says remedies offered by Spanish incumbent will protect competition in Germany.
Tags: acquisition
deutschlands
telefonica
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National regulators oppose EC remedies on E-Plus - report
2014-06-22 18:25:00| Telecompaper Headlines
(Telecompaper) Only two of the 12 national competition regulators advising the European Commission on Telefonica's proposed takeover of E-Plus from KPN supported the remedies proposed by the EC, two unnamed officials told the Financial Times. At a recent meeting to review the European Commission proposal to approve the merger of the third and fourth largest mobile operators in Germany, only Sweden and Belgium voted in favour of the proposed conditions. Germany, Ireland, Austria, Italy and the UK voted against the remedies, which require Telefonica to lease network capacity to rivals. Five other countries abstained: France, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Portugal. The advisory committee's vote is not binding, but it is unusual - in most cases, the vote is a formality to approve the proposals from the EC. Opponents of the Telefonica deal in Germany hope that the negative vote will prompt Joaquin Almunia, the EU competition commissioner, to revisit his plan, the paper said.
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EU set to approve Telefonica, E-Plus deal - report
2014-06-16 17:54:00| Telecompaper Headlines
(Telecompaper) EU anti-trust regulators will approve Telefonica's proposed takeover of German rival E-Plus after it pledged to give up one fifth of the combined group's network capacity to MVNOs, reports Reuters citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter. One source said that the EC would clear the deal, with others adding that the aim was to create up to three MVNOs to replace E-Plus. After merging E-Plus and O2, Telefonica will be expected to lease at least 20 percent of the combined group's network capacity to MVNOs, the report said. Similar conditions were imposed when 3 Group acquired Orange Austria and O2 Ireland.
EC fears price increases from O2, E-Plus merger - report
2014-02-27 10:19:00| Telecompaper Headlines
(Telecompaper) Telefonica's propsoed takeover of German operator E-Plus could raise mobile prices by up to a third for some customers, according to the European Commission. This was part of the conclusions of its initial evaluation of the proposed takeover, which would see Germany's third- and fourth-largest mobile operators merged. The EC competition authorities sent its first opinion on the deal to the companies on 26 February, the Financial Times reports. According to people familiar with the 'statement of objections' draft, antitrust officials estimated that post-merger, the average price of a mobile plan would rise by 13-17 percent. This is broken down to a 26-37 percent increase in the prepaid market for customers without a lengthy contract, where the merged group would wield a market share approaching 60 percent. In the postpaid market, there could be a 9-12 percent jump. E-Plus' owner KPN said the objections are "common practice in such a regulatory review". Telefonica said it was "optimistic" about winning approval for the deal, which is said would increase competition and "challenge the market leaders with attractive products and prices". Telefonica will have the opportunity in the coming weeks to challenge the commission's conclusion. It will probably point to another quantitative model cited in the draft objections that predicts a more modest 5-9 percent average rise.
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