German cable network operator Kabel Deutschland has submitted a remedy package to the Federal Cartel Office relating to the planned acquisition of rival Tele Columbus. The package is designed to address the concerns of the Cartel Office as expressed in a statement of objection in December 2012, especially with regards to the market for providing TV services to housing associations.
Despite not sharing the Cartel Office's concerns, Kabel Deutschland has offered to sell certain network assets and corresponding housing association contracts of Tele Columbus. It is offering to sell Tele Columbus network assets in Berlin, Dresden and Cottbus with more than 430,000 homes connected including the respective housing association contracts.
These asset sales would reduce the size of the transaction of originally 2.1 million homes connected by around 20 percent. In terms of subscribers, the asset sales would amount to a reduction of around 330,000 subscribers out of a total of 1.6 million subscribers.
