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Hutchison aims to convince regulators to back O2 takeover at European Commission’s closed-door hearing on Monday.
Key players in the U.K. telecoms market will next week attend a meeting organised by the European Commission to debate the proposed merger of O2 with 3UK, it emerged on Tuesday.
At the closed-door hearing, which has been set for 7 March, Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison will attempt to convince EU regulators to push through the deal, which would see it take ownership of the U.K.’s largest mobile operator, Reuters reported.
Citing an unnamed source familiar with the situation, the newswire said that a raft of U.K. operators will also attend the hearing. The list includes Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk, Vodafone and BT.
France’s Iliad may also take part, the source said.
In January there were reports that Iliad owner Xavier Niel had approached Ofcom to enquire about the possibility of acquiring any assets divested as a result of the 3UK/O2 merger.
Brussels is almost certain to require hefty concessions from the two mobile operators if it decides to green light the merger.
The merged entity would likely have to sell off spectrum and possibly even customers to get the go-ahead. Competition regulators could also insist on certain conditions designed to facilitate the entry of a new player into the U.K. mobile market.
Iliad would be a completely new entrant, but there are also a number of MVNOs in the U.K. that could take the opportunity to acquire their own frequencies or infrastructure. That could apply to many of the companies listed above as participants in next week’s hearing.
Hutchison agreed to acquire O2 UK from Telefonica for £10.25 billion in March last year.
The Hong Kong operator has been consistently bullish on its chances of getting the deal past European competition authorities, but it faces some serious objections, not least from U.K. regulator Ofcom.
Sharon White, CEO of Ofcom, insists that the market requires four mobile networks in order to remain competitive, the same argument that European competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager used when blocking Telenor and TeliaSonera’s Danish merger plans last year.
A month ago Hutch made a series of pledges – including price freezes, a hefty investment plan, and the sale of network capacity to enable more competition in the market – in a bid to win over the European Commission.
Ultimately though, it seem it will come down to whether or not the Commission views it concessions as sufficient.
