The Austrian competition authority, BWB, has sent out 52 “letters of request” to telecommunications companies regarding Hutchison 3G’s €1.3bn (US$1.7bn) takeover of Orange Austria.
The BWB stated it has sent letters to Hutchison, Orange and…
The Austrian competition authority, BWB, has sent out 52 “letters of request” to telecommunications companies regarding Hutchison 3G’s €1.3bn (US$1.7bn) takeover of Orange Austria.
The BWB stated it has sent letters to Hutchison, Orange and its budget brand Yesss! as well as to Telekom Austria. As part of the deal, Hutchison has agreed to sell Yesss! and a number of other assets to Telekom Austria.
“The letters of request contain matters of turnover, number of calls, duration of calls, number of SMS, data volume, national roaming, airtime reselling for the time period Q3 2006-Q4 2011 concerning mobile and fixed-line networks,” the statement read.
BWB is responsible for assessing the Yesss! part of the deal, while the European Commission evaluates the main transaction, although there is room for crossover.
A BWB spokeswoman told TelecomFinance that the authority’s assessment of the Yesss! sale “is not easy to handle” given the potential competition concerns.
She declined to comment on the specific nature of these concerns, but said that any takeover by a large operator creates possible “problems with competition”.
The competition authority will examine the deal “very carefully” in the pre-notification period, which precedes formal filings, she added.
In its statement, the BWB said the relevant parties are cooperating well on determining the form and content of the filings. As such, BWB director general Theo Thanner expects the status of the merger to be clarified this summer.
France Telecom and private equity firm Mid Europa Partners agreed in February to sell Orange Austria to Hutchison 3G, the Austrian subsidiary of Hong Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa. If approved, the deal will make Hutchison the third largest mobile operator in Austria.
