A PYMNTS Company

EU Court Upholds Altice Gun-Jumping Fine

By  |  September 22, 2021

EU antitrust regulators received a boost from Europe’s second-highest court, as it upheld a record fine against French telecom company Altice for jumping the gun on its bid for PT Portugal.

    Get the Full Story

    Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.

    yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today.

    By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.

    The decision empowers the European Commission as it investigates US life sciences company Illumina for closing its takeover of cancer detection test-maker Grail without first securing EU approval.

    Acting before approval, or jumping the gun, is a major offence under EU merger rules, with fines for violations of up to 10% of a company’s global turnover. Altice’s €125 million (US$146.7 million) fine was the biggest the European Commission has imposed to date for such an offence.

    The Luxembourg-based General Court reduced the fine by €6.22 million, but did not cancel it.

    The judges said in their ruling the reduction was because Altice informed the Commission of the transaction before the share purchase agreement was signed and that “immediately after that signing, it sent to the Commission a case team allocation request relating to its file.”

    The Commission in its 2018 decision said Altice had breached EU merger rules by exercising decisive influence and veto rights over the Portuguese company before securing regulatory clearance for the deal.

    Altice can appeal to the EU Court of Justice, Europe’s highest, but only on points of law.

    In 2017, Facebook was handed a €110 million fine for giving misleading information during the EU review of its WhatsApp bid. The sanctions did not affect both deals, which were approved.

    Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.