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UK: Hutchison says antitrust talks on UK deal ‘fruitful’

By  |  March 7, 2016

Hutchison Holdings said it had “fruitful” talks with EU regulators at a hearing on Monday aimed at dispelling antitrust concerns over its plan to become the top UK mobile operator by buying Telefonica’s O2 unit.

The deal is crucial to Asia’s richest man Li Ka-shing’s plan to expand Hutchison’s telecoms footprint across Europe and follows two other takeovers in recent years.

The company set out its arguments at a closed door hearing on why the European Commission should approve the deal without demanding too many tough concessions.

“Today’s hearing has given CKHH the opportunity to have another fruitful exchange with the Commission and the Member States’ representatives concerning its proposed acquisition of O2 in the UK,” Hutchison said in a statement.

Full content: Reuters

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