UK Competition Watchdog Gives Final Approval for Virgin Media-O2 Merger
May 20 2021 - 1:59AM
Dow Jones News
By Adria Calatayud
The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority said Thursday that
it has given the green light to a proposed merger between Liberty
Global PLC's Virgin Media and Telefonica SA's O2, in a deal that is
set to create a major U.K. telecoms operator.
The final decision from the antitrust regulator follows its
provisional clearance given last month. The CMA said it concluded
that the deal is unlikely to hurt competition after an in-depth
investigation.
In response, John Malone's Liberty Global and Spain's Telefonica
said they welcome final U.K. regulatory approval for their Virgin
Media-O2 joint venture and said the deal is now expected to close
by June 1.
Liberty Global and Telefonica reached an agreement for the
combination of Virgin Media and O2 in May last year, in a deal that
is set to create an integrated communications provider with revenue
of 11 billion pounds ($15.53 billion).
Last month, Liberty Global and Telefonica said the new entity
would be led by Lutz Schueler as chief executive officer and
Patricia Cobian as chief financial officer.
Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 20, 2021 02:44 ET (06:44 GMT)
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