Brussels, 09/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 8 October, the European Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of Dutch company Getronics, an information technology (IT) service provider, by KPN of The Netherlands. After examining the operation, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.
The main overlap in the business areas of both companies occurs in development and integration services and in IT management services. There is also a limited overlap in the supply of networking equipment for telecommunication infrastructure. The Commission's examination of the proposed transaction showed that the horizontal overlaps between the activities of Getronics and KPN, which are not close competitors, are limited and that, for all products concerned, they would continue to face several strong, effective competitors after the proposed takeover. Following KPN's buyout of Getronics, the Commission explains that customers would continue to have a wide choice from alternative providers for sourcing their IT services. The Commission's market investigation also showed that the position of KPN, does not give rise to concerns with regard to relationships with Getronics on upstream markets for supply of communication capacity. The Commission affirms that “upstream markets concerned are sufficiently competitive and the telecommunications market is subject to regulation. As a result customers would not be adversely affected by the proposed transaction”. (ol)