A PYMNTS Company

Germany: EU allows creation of new wireless giant

By  |  July 2, 2014

The European Commission announced Wednesday that it has approved of Spain’s Telefonica to acquire rival E-Plus in Germany, a deal that creates the nation’s largest company.

But the approval was not without conditions. According to reports, the Commission requires Telefonica to divest up to 30 percent of the merged company’s network capacity. Those assets must be sold to rival service providers. Telefonica must also improve agreements with service providers that do not have their own network.

Telefonica first pursued plans to acquire Royal KPN-owned E-Plus after KPN’s top shareholder Carlos Slim gave his approval. Now, reports say, Telefonica will look to merge E-Plus with its own Germany operation, O2.

Full content: Fox Business

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