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U.K.-based telco offloads Dutch broadband business as part of EU concessions related to Liberty Global merger.
T-Mobile Netherlands on Friday agreed to acquire Vodafone’s Dutch consumer broadband business.
Vodafone was compelled to divest the unit, called Vodafone Thuis, as part of a remedy package imposed by the European Commission on Vodafone’s merger with Liberty Global’s Dutch operation, Ziggo. The business serves 150,000 fixed broadband customers.
"This is great news for the Dutch consumer," said Martin Knauer, acting CEO of T-Mobile Netherlands, in a statement. "Thanks to the extensive knowledge and experience of the Deutsche Telekom group, we will continue to innovate these newly-acquired businesses in the consumer market and offer more choice to the Dutch consumer."
Financial terms with T-Mobile were not disclosed. The deal is conditional on the approval from the Dutch competition watchdog, consultations with the works councils of each company, and the European Commission.
The transaction is expected to complete in December.
When the Commission gave its conditional approval to the deal in August, it noted that Vodafone Netherlands – which launched fixed broadband, telephony and TV services in October 2014 – had the potential to become a strong competitor in the provision of multiplay services, a benefit could have been eliminated by the Liberty Global tie-up.
Vodafone and Liberty Global agreed to combine their Dutch businesses into a 50:50 joint venture in February. Under the terms of the deal, Vodafone agreed to pay Liberty Global €1 billion to equalise the value of the assets.
The merger brings together the country’s second-largest mobile operator in Vodafone, and its largest cableco, Ziggo.
