Germany: Antitrust pressure may force Liberty Global out

US cable company Liberty Global could be pushed out of Germany due to pressure from competition authorities, reports say.

Citing unnamed sources, reports say Liberty Global may be forced to abandon the market after last year’s reversal of antitrust clearance for Liberty Global to acquire KabelBW. The reversal forced competition regulators to reexamine the takeover, made in 2011 for $4.1 billion.

Liberty Global subsidiary Unitymedia filed a complaint against that reversal and the dispute is now before Germany’s Federal Court of Justice. The case remains pending, say reports.

But according to reports, if the decision to reexamine he takeover is upheld, Liberty Global may have to unwind the merger.

Now, unnamed sources say Liberty Global is looking to sell Unitymedia KabelBW, the entity that emerged from the 2011 deal.

Liberty Global also recently abandoned a bidding war with Vodafone to acquire Germany’s Kabel Deutschland, the latest evidence against Liberty Global’s expansion in the country, say reports.

Full content: Reuters

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