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LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - Britain's competition regulator
on Thursday cleared a multi-billion pound merger between
broadband company Virgin Media and Telefonica's UK
mobile network O2 after a months-long review.
"After looking closely at the deal, we are reassured that
competition amongst mobile communications providers will remain
strong and it is therefore unlikely that the merger would lead
to higher prices or lower quality services," said Martin Coleman
of the Competition and Markets Authority.
Virgin owner Liberty Global and Spain's Telefonica
agreed the merger a year ago, creating a powerhouse in broadband
and mobile to take on market leader BT.
It is expected to close by June 1, the companies said.
Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries and his Telefonica counterpart
José Maria Alvarez-Pallete said: "This is a watershed moment in
the history of telecommunications in the UK as we are now
cleared to bring real choice where it hasn’t existed before,
while investing in fibre and 5G that the UK needs to thrive."
The deal values O2 at 12.7 billion pounds and Virgin Media
at 18.7 billion pounds, giving a combined value of 31.4 billion
pounds ($44.36 billion) including debt.
The combined companies will have 11 billion pounds of annual
revenue, the two owners said.
($1 = 0.7079 pounds)
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru and Paul Sandle in
London; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Carmel Crimmins)
