Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYK) has submitted commitments with the European Commission relating to its acquisition of Belgian mobile operator Base, which is being sold by KPN (AMS:KPN).
Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYK) has submitted commitments with the European Commission relating to its acquisition of Belgian mobile operator Base, which is being sold by KPN (AMS:KPN).
If successful, the merger would transform Liberty’s local cableco Telenet into a converged player.
The EC’s provisional review deadline is 5 October.
Liberty Global declined to comment on the remedies. In a statement it said: “Liberty Global and Telenet are working closely with the European Commission on its analysis of the Base transaction. We remain confident of securing clearance in due course but have no further comment at this stage.”
The €1.33bn (US$1.5bn) cash deal, agreed in mid-April, would mark the John Malone-backed group’s first European mobile network acquisition.
The remedy offer comes days after TeliaSonera and Telenor scrapped plans to merge their Danish mobile units due to EC opposition.
While the new commission’s stance on mobile consolidation appears to have hardened, the Margrethe Vestager-led competition authority approved a fixed-mobile deal – Orange’s acquisition of Spanish landline player Jazztel – earlier this year, albeit with considerable remedies.