On Wednesday 19 February, the European Commission unconditionally approved the proposed acquisition of joint control of Prosegur Alarmas (Spanish company) by Telefónica and Prosegur.
Telefónica will acquire half of the shares that Prosegur currently holds in Prosegur Alarmas, which will lead to joint control over Prosegur Alarmas by Telefónica and Prosegur.
The Commission has found a number of examples of alliances between telecom operators and alarm providers, as well as examples of telecom operators developing security solutions, both in Spain and worldwide.
The Commission assessed in particular: - whether Telefónica could stop supplying M2M SIM cards or could degrade the conditions of supply to alarm providers competing with Prosegur Alarmas; - whether there would be a risk of weakened competition if Telefónica or Prosegur Alarmas tried to leverage their respective positions into neighbouring markets by bundling telecommunication, TV and alarm services.
The Commission's investigation found that the transaction was “unlikely” to hinder effective competition in the concerned markets, as the companies would not have the ability to engage in any of the practices mentioned above, and even if they did, there would be no appreciable effect on these markets.
The operation was notified to the Commission on 15 January 2020. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)