BRUSSELS—The European Union on Thursday approved Liberty Global PLC's €1.3 billion ($1.43 billion) purchase of Belgian mobile-phone operator BASE Company NV after the parties offered to sell part of their customer base to a new virtual mobile operator.

Liberty Global has offered to sell BASE's share in mobile virtual network operator Mobile Vikings to Belgian broadcaster Medialaan, said the European Commission, the bloc's top antitrust regulator. Liberty Global will also transfer part of BASE's customer base to the broadcaster, it added.

"We have made sure that Liberty Global's merger with BASE will not reverse the trend of declining mobile prices in Belgium in recent years," said EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager.

The EU said Liberty Global also struck an agreement with Medialaan to give the Belgian broadcaster access to BASE's mobile network, allowing Medialaan to compete as a full mobile virtual network operator.

The commission had launched a probe into the acquisition in October over concerns the consolidation could lead to higher prices and less choice for consumers.

Since assuming her current post more than a year ago, Ms. Vestager has signaled that some telecommunications mergers in the region could face scrutiny from her agency, particularly in cases where mobile-phone mergers reduce the number of operators in a given country from four to three.

"The remedies adequately address the commission's concerns since they ensure that a new mobile virtual network operator will enter the retail mobile market, to compensate for the loss of competition," the EU said in a statement.

The deal, announced last April, is expected to make Liberty Global's Telenet Group Holding NV mobile business more competitive and boost its presence in Belgium, where Liberty Global has looked for growth.

BASE is the third-largest mobile network operator in Belgium with 3.3 million mobile subscribers and notched adjusted revenue of €690 million last year. Its current owner is Dutch telecommunications company Royal KPN NV.

Write to Natalia Drozdiak at natalia.drozdiak@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 04, 2016 07:05 ET (12:05 GMT)

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