Li flagship looks to clear EC probe of 780M euro O2 Ireland acquisition
Three Ireland is confident an EC probe will clear the way to acquiring Telefonica's Irish business
A subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa says it is confident an in-depth review by the European Commission will clear its proposed €780 million (HK$87.1 billion) acquisition of Spanish group Telefonica's O2 mobile business in Ireland.
The European Commission opened a so-called Phase 2 examination of that purchase agreement - announced by Hutchison subsidiary Three Ireland on June 24 - late on Wednesday.
In a statement posted on Hutchison's website yesterday, Three Ireland said: "The commission's decision to open an in-depth investigation is not unexpected in the context of previous statements by the commission that it would take a close look at in-country telecoms mergers.
"Three Ireland has had open and constructive discussions with the commission throughout the first phase of the merger review process.
"It expects to continue to work closely with the commission to obtain clearance for the acquisition."
The deal would combine two of Ireland's four mobile networks and create a player of similar size to the largest operator, Vodafone Ireland.
The commission has said the transaction "would remove an important competitive force" in the market.