The sale of Orange Austria owned frequencies to Telekom Austria has been approved by the national telecoms regulator, RTR. The sale of frequencies to Hutchison has also been cleared.
Both decisions mean that that the proposed sale of Orange Austria to…
The sale of Orange Austria owned frequencies to Telekom Austria has been approved by the national telecoms regulator, RTR. The sale of frequencies to Hutchison has also been cleared.
Both decisions mean that that the proposed sale of Orange Austria to Hutchison has come closer, although the Austrian antitrust regulator BWB could still delay closure, which could put the deal as a whole at risk.
The sale of the 2 x 13.2 MHz of paired frequencies in different bands to Telekom Austria was agreed in February in conjunction with the sale of Orange’s no-frills subsidiary Yesss! to the incumbent. Other frequencies will be passed on to Hutchison as part of the €1.3bn Orange/Hutchison deal.
The sale of Orange received European Commission approval earlier in the week, subject to a number of far reaching undertakings offered by the merging parties.
The sale of Yesss! was cleared by the Austrian cartel court recently, but it is unclear if the local antitrust regulator, BWB, will appeal the decision. A BWB spokesperson told TelecomFinance recently that an announcement is planned for 17 December, although the regulator has until 27 December to make up its mind.
TA could cancel Yesss! deal after 31 January
Hutchison Austria CEO Jan Trionow warned already that the disposal of Yesss! was an integral part of the Orange/Hutchison deal. “An appeal of the Yesss! sale would therefore undermine the entire transaction,” he said recently.
RTR head of telecoms, Georg Serentschy, told TelecomFinance that according to his knowledge Telekom Austria could cancel the acquisition of Yesss! without paying break-up fees, if the deal has not closed by the end of January 2013.
The Austrian incumbent has been criticised by some for overpaying for the asset.
Serentschy estimated that an appeal by the BWB would delay a final decision by at least two to three months, provided the court accepts the appeal.
