Brussels, 11/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - On 4 April, the European Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of Greek telecommunications company Hellas Telecommunications by Weather Investments S.p.A. of Italy.
Hellas Telecommunications is a provider of mobile communications services and fixed telecommunications services. It carries out its activities through TIM Hellas and its subsidiary Q-Telecom. Weather Investments places private equity investments and is mainly active in mobile communications systems. It has an investment portfolio for the Italian market (Wind) and Greek market (Tellas). Under the proposed transaction, Weather Investments would acquire all shares in Hellas Telecommunications.
The Commission's examination of the proposed transaction showed that the combined entity's share would be limited and the incremental share of TIM Hellas only small. The transaction would therefore not give rise to competition concerns. Additionally, the combined entity would continue to face effective competitive pressure from other market participants, in particular from the clear market leader OTE, the Greek incumbent operator. (cd)