EC poised for major probe of Orange, MásMóvil merger
March 8, 2023
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Brussels has postponed its decision over the €19 billion merger between Orange and MásMóvil until April 3rd to have more time to study the deal.
The EC is likely to reject the Spanish CNMC’s bid to take control of the case and instead launch its own high-level probe.
In February both companies notified the EC of their merger decision and a decision from Brussels was expected on March 20th.
The Orange-MásMóvil merger is the first big merger operation under the EC scrutiny since Brussels blocked the acquisition of Telefónica’s UK subsidiary O2 from CK Hutchinson in 2016.
If completed Orange and MásMóvil would set up a 50/50 shared new company that will become the largest in Spain in terms of mobile telephony and broadband.