LONDON (Alliance News) - The UK Competition and Markets Authority on Friday said it has approved BT Group PLC's GBP12.5 billion acquisition of mobile operator EE Ltd.
The CMA, the UK's antitrust regulator, said it decided, despite a number of concerns raised by other UK telecoms operators, that the deal would not result in a substantial lessening of competition.
"Since our provisional findings, we have taken extra time to consider responses in detail but the evidence does not show that this merger is likely to cause significant harm to competition or the interests of consumers," said John Wotton, chair of the CMA's inquiry.
BT welcomed the decision, saying this paves the way for it to complete the acquisition and begin the process of integrating the EE business. BT said the deal is set to close on January 29.
Following the completion, EE's former owners, Deutsche Telekom AG and Orange SA, will get shares in BT as part of the consideration for the deal. Deutsche Telekom will own a 12% stake in BT, while Orange will own 4.0%.
"It is great news that the CMA has approved our acquisition of EE. We are pleased they have found there to be no significant lessening of competition following an in-depth investigation lasting more than ten months," said BT Chief Executive Gavin Patterson.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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