Liberty Global, owner of German cabelco Unitymedia, has submitted a new set of remedies to the German Federal Cartel Office today, a person close to the process said. The move is intended to secure merger control clearance for the proposed takeover of…
Liberty Global, owner of German cabelco Unitymedia, has submitted a new set of remedies to the German Federal Cartel Office today, a person close to the process said. The move is intended to secure merger control clearance for the proposed takeover of Kabel BW.
Liberty Global confirmed the move in an emailed statement to TelecomFinance.
Liberty said it “proposed important further structural improvements to the Unitymedia and Kabel Baden-Württemberg (KBW) business practices in response to the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) review of the intended acquisition of KBW.”
The company confirmed that the remedy package submitted earlier in the process included proposals to provide unencrypted digital free to air TV, to waive any exclusivity in contracts with housing associations and to forego ownership rights of their in-building network.
“This package of proposals is now further expanded to include an extraordinary termination right for a specified number of housing associations with longer-term multi-dwelling unit (MDU) contracts in the Unitymedia and KBW footprints. These contracts cover approximately 280,000 dwelling units, representing 30% of the market segment where the FCO identified certain competitive concerns. The housing associations can exercise the right until 30 September 2012,” Liberty said today.
A spokesperson for the German Federal Cartel Office also confirmed that extended remedies were submitted today. These would now require a new market test, during which third parties have the opportunity to comment on the new proposal.
German magazine Wirtschaftswoche reported yesterday that German incumbent Deutsche Telekom has submitted comments to the Cartel office opposing the proposed merger. According to the article Deutsche Telekom rejected the initial remedy proposal as not sufficient to address antitrust concerns.
Liberty described today’s extended remedy proposal as “the most comprehensive ever presented to increase competition in the German cable television market.”
It would “structurally increase opportunities to market entry and market share gains for a broad range of competitors to Unitymedia and KBW to the MDU market,” the company said.
The deadline in the ongoing cartel investigation is 15 December.
