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EU: Telefonica’s Germany plans to face probe

By  |  December 19, 2013

Sources said Spain’s Telefonica will likely face an investigation by the European Commission regarding the company’s plans to merge its Germany unit with Royal KPN’s E-Plus.

The probe will focus mainly on frequency allocation in Europe’s largest wireless market, the sources said; the Commission is set to announce a probe Friday, though is reportedly not against the idea of reducing Germany’s main wireless players from four to three. The competition concerns arise regarding a company the size of the would-be merged companies and its power to acquire too much spectrum.

Plans to take spectrum away from Telefonica and KPN in Germany and set it aside for smaller rivals could significantly harm the value of such a merger, reports say. The deal is estimated to be worth $7.5 billion.

Reports say the Commission will also decide Friday whether to hand the case over to state regulators.

Full Content: Bloomberg

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