The European Commission (EC) has restarted its review of Telefonica’s planned takeover of German mobile operator E-Plus, setting a new deadline of 26 June.
The commission suspended the in-depth, phase II review on 5 May, saying it required additional…
The European Commission (EC) has restarted its review of Telefonica’s planned takeover of German mobile operator E-Plus, setting a new deadline of 26 June.
The commission suspended the in-depth, phase II review on 5 May, saying it required additional information from the merging parties. The suspension lasted three days so the previous provisional deadline of 23 June has been pushed back by the same length of time.
Telefonica Deutschland (O2) said last week that it expected only a short delay in the review and the EC to still take a decision by the end of June. The company hopes to close the transaction by mid-2014.
O2 recently submitted an improved remedies package in an effort to persuade the commission to approve the deal and third parties had until 5 May to comment on it.
The delay is much briefer than the EC’s suspension of a parallel investigation into the proposed sale of O2 Ireland to Hutchison, which was on hold for more than a month.
