The European Commission has approved the USD 550 million proposed acquisition of Luxembourg-based roaming data clearing house Mach by US counterpart Syniverse, subject to conditions. Syniverse will have to sell Mach’s data clearing (DC) services and near trade roaming data exchange (NTRDE) services in the EEA. Syniverse and March are the two largest providers of these services in the EEA and globally. Preliminary investigations by the EC raised concerns that the transaction as initially planned would have allowed Syniverse to raise prices or to decrease the quality of these services.
Syniverse made a commitment to divest, alongside operational assets and proprietary software for DC and NTRDE operations, the former Mach personnel dedicated to these services in the EEA and to include former Mach top customers. The commitments include a range of customer contracts with mid-sized and smaller MNOs in order to create a sustainable business. The EC will ensure that these assets are sold to a suitable purchaser capable of becoming a viable competitor to the merged entity.
