BRUSSELS, Nov 6 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators willinvestigate whether Hutchison Whampoa's $1 bln bid forTelefonica's Irish unit will reduce competition in themobile telephony market in Ireland, the European Commission saidon Wednesday.
The move will put pressure on Hutchison to offer concessionssuch as spectrum sales or making it easier for rivals to accessits network, to ease the regulatory concerns.
Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, controlled by Asia'srichest man, Li Ka Shing, unveiled the 780-million-euro ($1.05billion) offer for Telefonica's 02 Ireland unit in June to boostits presence in Europe.
Reuters reported on Oct. 23 that the Commission would openan in-depth investigation into the acquisition.
The European Union competition authority, which did apreliminary review of the deal in the last month, said the dealmay have a negative impact on rivals and lead to higher prices.
"The Commission has concerns that the transaction wouldremove an important competitive force and change the mergedentity's incentive to exert significant competitive pressure onthe remaining competitors," it said in a statement.
The acquisition would quadruple the market share ofHutchison's subsidiary, 3 Ireland, to 37.5 percent, behindmarket leader Vodafone.
The Commission said it would decide by March 24 whether toclear the deal.