John Malone’s cable giant Liberty Global has reportedly offered to sell its pay-TV channel Film1 as part of commitments to win clearance from the European Commission (EC) to acquire Dutch cableco Ziggo.
Liberty has also pledged not to block OTT…
John Malone’s cable giant Liberty Global has reportedly offered to sell its pay-TV channel Film1 as part of commitments to win clearance from the European Commission (EC) to acquire Dutch cableco Ziggo.
Liberty has also pledged not to block OTT service providers from accessing its internet network, either contractually or technically, for four years, Reuters cited a person familiar with the matter as saying.
The telecoms and media group submitted commitments to the EC, which is conducting an in-depth phase II investigation of the deal, early this month. The Commission has expressed concern that the deal, which values Ziggo at about €10bn (US$13.64bn), could reduce competition in a number of pay-TV and telecoms markets in the Netherlands, where Liberty’s local cableco UPC also operates.
Ziggo and UPC are the country’s two largest cablecos, respectively, and the proposed merger would create a company reaching about 7 million customers, equivalent to 90% of Dutch households.
The deadline for the EC investigation is 17 October.
Liberty and Ziggo were not immediately available for comment.
