The European Commission cleared Vodafone Group’s proposed takeover of Cable...
The European Commission cleared Vodafone Group’s proposed takeover of Cable & Wireless Worldwide, it said Tuesday. Both companies provide fixed and mobile telecom services in the European Economic Area, and the EC said the transaction raises no competition concerns because…
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the parties’ activities are largely complementary. CWW’s main activity relates to fixed telecom, Vodafone’s mostly to mobile, it said. They overlap in several fixed and mobile markets in the U.K., but the impact of the combination there will likely be small as the combined entity will continue to face strong competition from other players, the EC said. The acquisition also raises several vertical relationships in the fixed and mobile markets in the U.K. and Ireland, because Vodafone will be able to use CWW’s assets to deliver fixed-mobile combined services to end users, it said. The antitrust inquiry showed that the parties won’t have enough market power to shut out fixed or mobile operators from the combined services, the EC said.