Mergers: Commission clears Vodafone/Liberty Global telecoms joint venture, subject to conditions; rejects referral request by Dutch competition authority

On the 3 August 2016, the European Commission cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed creation of a joint venture in the Netherlands by mobile telecom operator Vodafone and cable company Liberty Global.

The decision is conditional, as the European Commission had had concerns that the proposed transaction would have eliminated the benefits brought to the Dutch telecoms market by Vodafone's recent entry, so to address the Commission's concerns, Vodafone offered to divest its retail consumer fixed line business in the Netherlands.

In parallel, the European Commission also rejected, on the same day, a request from the Netherlands to refer the merger to the Dutch competition authority for assessment under Dutch competition law.