Brussels, 26/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 26 January, the European Commission announced that it was to continue its investigation into the merger between two mobile telephony operators, Orange of France and the British Jazztel, which operates in Spain, without referring the case to Spain.
The European institution believes that it is the best placed to deal with this case in full respect of the European rules on mergers in the fixed-line and mobile telecommunications sector within the European Economic Area. As it must take its final decision by the end of April, it pledges that it will continue to work closely with the Spanish competition authority as part of an in-depth investigation into the planned operation, which it opened in early December 2014 (see EUROPE 11211).
In mid-October 2014, Orange informed the Commission that it was planning to acquire sole control of Jazztel. In November, the Spanish competition authority asked the Commission to refer the case to it, arguing that the competitive effects would be limited to the national market.
Five other investigations into mergers are underway: - planned acquisition of a controlling stake in the venture capital company De Vijver Media by Liberty Global (decision date: 5 March 2015); - planned acquisition of Biomet by Zimmer (decision date suspended); - planned acquisition of the Greek gas transport network manager DESFA by the national petroleum company of Azerbaijan (decision date: 22 April 2015); - plan to create a joint venture between Douwe Egberts Master Blenders and Mondelez (decision date: 13 May 2015); - plan to create a joint venture for the concession of online music licences between the collective management companies PRSfM, STIM and GEMA (decision date: 29 May 2015). (MB)