Vodafone Group & Liberty Global welcome the European Commission’s clearance for the proposed merger of their Dutch operations
August 03 2016 - 11:07AM
Business Wire
Vodafone Group Plc (LSE: VOD) and Liberty Global plc (NASDAQ:
LBTYA, LBTYB and LBTYK) today welcomed the conditional clearance by
the European Commission of the two companies’ proposed merger of
their operating businesses in the Netherlands to form a 50:50 joint
venture.
Following its Phase I investigation, the European Commission
concluded that the transaction, as modified by the commitments
offered by the parties, does not raise any competition
concerns.
The commitments entail a divestment of Vodafone Netherlands’
consumer fixed business, prior to closing of the proposed merger of
the two companies’ Dutch operations. This represents a structural
remedy offered by the parties to address any concerns regarding the
overlap between the fixed telecoms and TV activities of Vodafone
and Ziggo in the Netherlands. Having already received a number of
expressions of interest, the parties will now proceed with the sale
process.
Vodafone Netherlands’ consumer fixed business has a customer
base of more than 120,000 with a high triple-play penetration rate.
The divestment could potentially also include MVNO access subject
to agreement on commercial terms.
About Vodafone Group
Vodafone is one of the world’s largest telecommunications
companies and provides a range of services including voice,
messaging, data and fixed communications. Vodafone has mobile
operations in 26 countries, partners with mobile networks in 56
more, and fixed broadband operations in 17 markets. As of 30 June
2016, Vodafone had 465 million mobile customers and 13.7 million
fixed broadband customers. For more information, please
visit: www.vodafone.com.
About Liberty Global
Liberty Global is the world’s largest international TV and
broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across
Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the
infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the
digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enables
us to develop market-leading products delivered through
next-generation networks that connect our customers who subscribe
to over 59 million1 television, broadband internet and telephony
services. We also serve over ten million1 mobile subscribers and
offer WiFi service across six million access points.
Liberty Global’s businesses are comprised of two stocks: the
Liberty Global Group (NASDAQ: LBTYA, LBTYB and LBTYK) for our
European operations, and the LiLAC Group (NASDAQ: LILA and LILAK,
OTC Link: LILAB), which consists of our operations in Latin America
and the Caribbean.
The Liberty Global Group operates in 12 European countries under
the consumer brands Virgin Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and
UPC. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America
and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Mas
Movil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a submarine
fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets.
For more information, please visit www.libertyglobal.com or
follow us on twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
About Vodafone Netherlands
Vodafone Netherlands is the second largest mobile
telecommunications company in the Netherlands on the basis of
turnover and profitability, and had more than 5 million customers
at 30 June 2016. The company is headquartered in Amsterdam and
Maastricht and has offices in Eindhoven, Capelle aan den IJssel,
Bodegraven and Amstelveen IJsselstein. For more information, go to
www.vodafone.nl and www.vodafone.com.
About Ziggo
Ziggo is the leading communications and entertainment services
provider for consumer and businesses across the Netherlands. As of
March 31, 2016, Ziggo provided 9.7 million service subscriptions to
its 4.0 million unique customers: 4.0 million video, 3.1 million
internet and 2.5 million fixed telephony service subscribers.
In addition, Ziggo supplies 197,000 subscribers with mobile
telephony and customers have access to over 2 million WiFiSpots
across the Netherlands (Q1 2016). The company’s products and
services for the small and large business markets consists of data
communications, fixed and mobile telephony and electronic payment
systems.
________________________________
1 Subscriber statistics for Liberty Global (including the LiLAC
Group) and CWC are as of March 31, 2016, and are based on each
entity's subscriber counting policies. CWC’s subscriber counting
policies may differ from those of Liberty Global. Accordingly, the
combined subscriber statistics are not necessarily indicative of
the actual number of subscribers to be reported by the combined
operations once CWC conforms to Liberty Global's subscriber
counting policies.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160803006111/en/
Liberty GlobalMedia
RelationsMatt Beake, +44 208 483
6428mbeake@libertyglobal.comorInvestor RelationsOskar Nooij,
+1 303 220 4218Christian Fangmann, +49 221 8462 5151John Rea, +1
303 220 4238orVodafone
GroupMedia
Relationswww.vodafone.com/media/contactorInvestor
relations+44 (0) 7919 990230
Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024