European Union antitrust regulators opened a full-scale investigation on Monday into US cable company Liberty Global’s bid for Dutch peer KPN’s Belgian unit, concerned that the deal may lead to higher prices.
The European Commission said its preliminary review showed that the deal may reduce competition in the Belgian retail mobile telephony market and also reduce the incentives for KPN’s Base unit to offer rivals access to its mobile network.
It will now decide by Feb. 18 whether to clear or block the deal. Liberty Global, which offered concessions last month, may now have to give more to head off regulatory worries.
Full content: The Wall Street Journal
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