The Dutch regulator has told the European Commission (EC) it wants to review Liberty Global’s (LGI) planned takeover of local cableco Ziggo, saying the deal’s potential effects have a national scope.
The country’s Authority for Consumers and…
The Dutch regulator has told the European Commission (EC) it wants to review Liberty Global’s (LGI) planned takeover of local cableco Ziggo, saying the deal’s potential effects have a national scope.
The country’s Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has filed a referral request with the EC, which received formal notification of the deal earlier this month, kick-starting its own review.
The Commission subsequently extended the deadline for its own phase I review of the deal, which would combine the Netherlands’ two largest cablecos, until 8 May.
“We have received the referral request by the Dutch authority and we will carefully examine it,” an EC spokesperson said.
Outlining its reasons for the referral request, ACM said the deal would have potentially significant effects on competition in regional and national telecoms, internet and TV markets and only “limited” cross-border and wider European consequences.
“This combination will make a leading provider on both Dutch TV-related and telecommunications markets,” the authority said, noting that the combined businesses of LGI, which owns UPC in the Netherlands, and Ziggo will reach more than 90% of Dutch homes (about seven million in total).
ACM noted that it has extensive knowledge and experience of the affected markets and ongoing investigations and studies that may “overlap” with the Ziggo review. These include a review of Dutch telco KPN’s plan to take full control of Reggefiber and an analysis of the telecoms market, the conclusions of which are expected by mid 2014.
While the EC has previously refused to pass on merger reviews involving mobile operators – such as the Orange Austria/Three and more recent O2 Germany/E-Plus cases – it has sometimes approved requests for in-country cable mergers.
LGI and Ziggo announced the planned €4.9bn (US$6.7bn) deal, which will see the expanding Europe-focused cableco acquire the 71.5% stake in Ziggo it does not already own, in late January. At the time, LGI said the merged business would have a combined turnover of €2.5bn.
