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EU: Regulators to rule on Hutchison deal March

By  |  February 8, 2016

EU antitrust regulators will decide by March 11 whether to allow CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd and Vimpelcom to merge their Italian mobile operations, marking the Hong Kong group’s second European telecoms deal under EU review.

The two companies sought EU approval last Friday, according to a filing on the European Commission website.

The deal is expected to come under tough scrutiny because it will reduce the number of mobile players in Italy from four to three, a figure which regulators fear will lead to higher prices.

Hutchison, controlled by Asia’s richest man Li Ka-shing, however could argue that the merged company will compete with two other equal size rivals Telecom Italia and Vodafone.

Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s LetterOne fund owns 47.9 percent of Vimpelcom’s voting rights.

Full content: Reuters

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