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Germany: EU won’t give up jurisdiction of Telefonica, E-Plus deal

By  |  January 30, 2014

The European Commission has formally rejected Germany’s request to review a major telco merger the nation says will ultimately place the most impact on Germany, say reports.

Germany’s Federal Cartel Office requested jurisdiction last November over the merger review of Telefonica’s $11.7 billion buyout of E-Plus, a unit of KPN. Authorities argued that the wireless deal will place the most impact on competition in the nation, as opposed to various nations throughout the EU.

But the Commission rejected Germany’s request on the grounds that the European Commission must impose a consistent merger policy throughout the EU telco industry.

Germany remains the EU’s largest telco market; the merger would reduce the number of wireless players from four to three, sparking competition concerns among both the European Commission and German authorities.

Full Content: Reuters

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