The European Commission has referred the assessment of the proposed acquisition of German cable network operator Kabel BW by Liberty Global to the German competition authority (Bundeskartellamt) at the latter request. After a preliminary investigation, the commission found that the proposed transaction may significantly affect competition in the market for the provision of free-TV services to housing associations, where contracts with tenants are negotiated collectively, a big market in Germany. The transaction was notified to the EC on 19 April this year. Germany asked for the referral of the case on 16 May arguing that it threatened to significantly affect competition in some of its domestic TV-related markets. Currently, there are three regional cable TV operators in Germany: Kabel Deutschland, Liberty Global subsidiary Unitymedia and Kabel BW. The proposed transaction would, therefore, bring together the number two and three regional cable TV operators in the country. The proposed transaction will now be examined by the Bundeskartellamt under national law. The Commission decided to refer the entire case to the Bundeskartellamt because almost all the markets potentially affected are national or regional and the Bundeskartellamt has significant experience in this sector. This is a set back for Liberty Global, as the cartel authority has been critical of cable mergers during the past years. Liberty Global announced its intention to acquire Kabel BW from its owner Swedish private equity investor EQT for EUR 3.16 billion in March of this year.
