Orange and MasMovil's Spanish deal set for EU antitrust nod, sources say

Digi Communications

17/01/2024 16:27

(Adds detail, European Commission, Orange and MasMovil declined
to comment)
    By Foo Yun Chee
       BRUSSELS, Jan 17 (Reuters) - French telecoms group
Orange  ORAN.PA  and Spanish rival MasMovil are set to gain
conditional EU antitrust approval for their Spanish tie-up, two
people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
    The move could signal a looser approach after telecoms
companies urged EU antitrust regulators to ease their tough
stance towards mergers that shrink the number of mobile players
in a country from four to three.
    Orange and MasMovil, the second and fourth-largest telecoms
providers in Spain, announced the deal, which has an enterprise
value of 18.6 billion euros ($20.2 billion), in July 2022.
   The European Commission's approval is conditional on
Romania's Digi  DIGI.BX  acquiring spectrum from MasMovil and an
option for a national roaming service agreement with Orange, the
sources said.
    Digi in a December regulatory filing said it had inked a
120-million-euro spectrum transfer agreement with an additional
component of 20 million euros with MasMovil and an option for a
national roaming service agreement with Orange's Spanish unit.
    The EU competition enforcer, which is due to decide on the
deal by Feb. 15, declined to comment. It warned last year that
the tie-up may reduce competition and push up prices in Spain.
    Orange and MasMovil also declined to comment.
    Digi, which has expanded rapidly in the Spanish market since
launching operations there in 2008, had more than 5.7 million
customers at the end of the first half of 2023.
    
    ($1 = 0.9215 euros)

 (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee
Editing by David Goodman, Kirsten Donovan)
 ((foo.yunchee@thomsonreuters.com; +32 2 585 2866; Reuters
Messaging: foo.yunchee.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))