Swisscom: EU gives green light for takeover of Vodafone Italia
Published: Tuesday, Sep 24th 2024, 09:40
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Swisscom is making progress with its planned acquisition of Vodafone Italia: The EU Commission has given the green light for the 8 billion euro takeover.
The approval is a further important step on the way to obtaining the approvals that Swisscom needs in order to finalize the transaction, the Swiss telecoms group announced in a press release on Tuesday. Swisscom submitted its takeover plans to the EU Commission's Directorate General for Competition on August 19.
On Monday (yesterday), the EU Commission announced that the preliminary examination had been completed and that the transaction could therefore be completed without reservation. "Overall, the takeover of Vodafone Italia is proceeding according to plan," Swisscom continued.
Possible threat to competition
However, the proceedings in Italy are still pending. Two weeks ago, the Italian competition authority AGCM announced that it would take a closer look at the planned deal. The Italian anti-trust watchdogs have initiated an in-depth investigation (Phase II).
Last week, the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) expressed its criticism: in a report, it spoke of a potential threat to competition.
According to the competition authorities, the transaction would create a company with dominant market power for fixed network services for private and corporate customers as well as public authorities.
In particular, the authority also took into account the opinions of competitors such as Open Fiber, TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile), Poste Italiane, Fibercop, Iliad Italia and Retelit, the report continues. Among other things, they commented on frequency allocation for mobile services or access to the physical mobile network infrastructure.
Vodafone Italia also has a dominant position in the telephone roaming market, according to feedback from competitors. Vodafone Italia's market share is around 10 percent higher than that of its main competitor Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM).
Swisscom sticks to schedule
Meanwhile, Swisscom is sticking to its previous timetable. "As communicated on March 15, 2024, Swisscom expects the transaction to be completed in the first quarter of 2025," the Group wrote on (today's) Tuesday.
Last week, a spokesperson stated that "Swisscom remains convinced that the transaction is pro-competitive." The telecoms group will work "closely and constructively" with the Italian competition authority in order to achieve early approval.
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