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Ireland: Officials confirm Hutchison concession offer for wireless merger

By  |  March 5, 2014

The European Commission has confirmed what sources had previously told reporters: Hutchison Whampoa has offered concessions to have its acquisition of O2 Ireland approved.

According to reports, Hong Kong-based Hutchison has made an offer to quell competition concerns that would combine Ireland’s O2, currently owned by Telefonica, with Hutchison’s Three operator, reducing the number of competitors from four to three.

While Hutchison and the European Commission declined to confirm what the offered concessions were, sources said the Hong Kong conglomerate is willing to divest spectrum and expand its network sharing agreement currently held by rival Meteor.

The Commission said the deadline to rule on the $1 billion merger has been extended to May 19.

Full Content: Reuters

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