Com Hem, the Swedish cableco owned by BC Partners, is examining its options to fight a potential prohibition of its proposed takeover of Canal Digital’s cable TV assets.
The deal has come under threat after the Swedish antitrust regulator asked a…
Com Hem, the Swedish cableco owned by BC Partners, is examining its options to fight a potential prohibition of its proposed takeover of Canal Digital’s cable TV assets.
The deal has come under threat after the Swedish antitrust regulator asked a court to prohibit the transaction.
Christer Kinch, director strategic development and public affairs at Com Hem, told TelecomFinance: “Needless to say, we disagree with the Competition Authority. We see a very dynamic and converged telecoms market. We are now evaluating the merits of their case. Our aim is to pursue this and we are very confident.”
The Swedish competition authority, Konkurrensverket, announced its intention to challenge the merger in the courts earlier this week.
The regulator argued in a statement published on its website that Com Hem already controls more than 60% of the relevant cable-TV market to apartment blocks. An acquisition of Canal Digital’s cable TV business would increase the stake to 68%,
This, the regulator said, would create major obstacles for potential new entrants, or for the expansion of existing smaller competitors.
The case was filed with the Stockholm district court.
The takeover of Canal Digital’s cable TV assets by Com Hem for SEK 85m (US$12.2m) was announced in June.
