Brussels, 20/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has authorised Vodafone to increase its stake in Airtel, the Spanish mobile phone operator that it holds jointly with British Telecom (BT). After this operation, it will jointly control its subsidiary with its partner BT. The joint venture had first been authorised on 8 June 1998. At the time, it was jointly controlled by BT, Airtouch International (which has since become Vodafone Airtouch Plc) and the Spanish company Grupo Acciona SA, which now, following the change in shareholder, loses the right of veto that it held before for certain determining issues.
The Commission considered this operation would not entail the training or strengthening of a dominant position of the parties concerned on any market and that it does not lead to combined market shares. Furthermore, the qualitative change in control exercised on Airtel will not have the aim, or effect, it states, of coordinating the competitive behaviour of Vodafone and BT on the market where Airtel operates, or on closely related markets where BT and Vodafone are both active.