While Hutchison is still waiting for the document detailing the European Commission’s concerns with the takeover of Orange Austria, European antitrust commissioner Joaquin Almunia has given a sobering outlook for the prospects of the deal.
Speaking at…
While Hutchison is still waiting for the document detailing the European Commission’s concerns with the takeover of Orange Austria, European antitrust commissioner Joaquin Almunia has given a sobering outlook for the prospects of the deal.
Speaking at an antitrust conference in Washington D.C., Almunia said that “at this stage, the question remains whether effective remedies will be found [to address the issues identified by the EC]”.
Talking about the wider telecoms industry in Europe, Almunia noted that on the EU level further consolidation “can certainly be beneficial if it increases efficiency”, but there was also a risk that incumbents “may want to continue playing an asymmetric game”.
But he described national markets in Europe as “already quite concentrated”, and also noted that the €1.3bn takeover of Orange Austria would reduce the number of competitors in Austria from four to three.
On a more positive note he also said that the European Commission had never blocked a merger of operators in an EU country.
Last week it became clear that the EC is preparing a so-called “statement of objections” (SO) – a crucial document outlining why the regulator is inclined to prohibit the takeover of Orange Austria by Hutchison if the companies do not offer additional undertakings to address anti-competitive concerns.
While Almunia confirmed in his speech that the EC “recently raised objections” against the deal, a person close to the situation confirmed that the formal SO has not been sent to the companies yet. The step is crucial as the written document will give the merging parties the opportunity to assess each of the EC’s concerns and possibly dispel them.
The Commission has a deadline of 30 November to come to a conclusion.
Â
