The European Commission is stepping away from reviewing the merger between French telco operator SFR and Numericable, say reports, as Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told reporters the transaction is a job for national authorities.
France’s Competition Authority will take control of the merger review despite the EU’s recent push to promote a unified approach to wireless mergers in efforts to introduce a single market. Some industry experts had reportedly expected the Commission to take over the French merger review, as the regulator had done with similar transactions in Germany and Ireland.
Germany was denied jurisdiction to review Telefonica’s buyout of E-Plus, and the Commission will review Hutchison Whampoa’s buyout of O2 Ireland.
SFR is set to be acquired by Numericable after a drawn-out bidding war for the assets; Numericable ultimately beat out Bouygues for the purchase.
Full Content: Telecompaper
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
Japan’s Prime Minister Criticizes US Block on Nippon Steel-US Steel Deal
Feb 17, 2025 by
CPI
UAE Cabinet Announces New Merger Control Filing Thresholds Effective March 2025
Feb 17, 2025 by
CPI
UK Regulator Warns Topps Tiles Acquisition Could Hurt Competition
Feb 17, 2025 by
CPI
FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson Backs Trump’s Authority to Remove Commissioners
Feb 17, 2025 by
CPI
South Korea Suspends Downloads of Chinese AI App DeepSeek Over Data Privacy Concerns
Feb 17, 2025 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – International Criminal Enforcement
Jan 23, 2025 by
CPI
The Antitrust Division’s Recent Work to Combat International Cartels
Jan 23, 2025 by
Emma Burnham & Benjamin Christenson
Information Sharing: The New Frontier of U.S. Antitrust Enforcement
Jan 23, 2025 by
Brian P. Quinn, Casey Kovarik & Michael Tubach
The Key Role of Guidelines on Exchanges of Information Among Competitors and the Divergent Transatlantic Paths
Jan 23, 2025 by
Rosa Abrantes-Metz & Albert Metz
Leniency, Whistleblowers, and Compliance
Jan 23, 2025 by
Richard Powers, Tara O’Malley & Cory Gordon