Austrian Cartel Court approves Yesss sale to Telekom Austria

Nieuws Mobiel Oostenrijk 27 NOV 2012
Austrian Cartel Court approves Yesss sale to Telekom Austria
The Austrian Cartel Court has approved the proposed acquisition of Orange Austria's discount brand Yesss! Telekommunikation by Telekom Austria. This ruling is not yet legally binding and is open to appeal by the Austrian Federal Competition Authority and the Federal Cartel Attorney within four weeks. In addition, the acquisition of Yesss! remains conditional on the completion of 3 Austria's indirect acquisition of Orange Austria, which is pending merger control approval by the EC. The deadline for a decision by the EC is 21 December. In February, Telekom Austria agreed to buy Yesss! as well as base station sites and frequencies from Orange Austria for up to EUR 390 million. The approval by the Austrian Telekom-Control-Commission (TKK) for the acquisition of the frequencies is still pending. In a statement, 3 Austria welcomed the decision and said that it also expected the EC to approve its takeover of Orange Austria. The company insists that the deal to buy Orange and sell on Yesss! to A1 would be positive for market competition and the best outcome for Austrian consumers.

Categories:

Mobiel

Companies:

Orange Austria,  A1 Telekom Austria,  Yesss!

Countries:

Oostenrijk

Tags:

Voice services, Data services, Messaging, Company, Services, Market, Regulations, Corporate, M&A buyouts & divestments

Related Articles

OOSTENRIJK 3 JAN 2013

3 Austria completes Orange Austria acquisition

Hutchison 3G Austria (3 Austria) has completed the acquisition of Orange Austria from its owners Mid Europa Partners (65%) and France Telecom (35%). The transaction has a value of EUR 1.3 billion and took almost one year to be completed as the European Commission, Austrian cartel office BWB and Austrian telecom control commission TKK had to approve several parts of the acquisition. After completion, 3 Austria is now the third largest mobile operator in Austria behind A1 Telekom Austria and T-Mobile Austria.

OOSTENRIJK 24 DEC 2012

T-Mobile to appeal 3, Orange, A1 frequency transfer approval

T-Mobile Austria plans to appeal against the allocation of radio frequencies that will result from 3 Austria's takeover of Orange Austria, according to Reuters citing a source familiar with the matter. The operator fears it will be at a disadvantage to its competitors, who will have a head start of up to a year in building next-generation LTE networks. Reuters' source said T-Mobile planned to file an appeal in the next days with Austria's higher administrative court against the decision of the country's tel

OOSTENRIJK 21 DEC 2012

BWB approves sale of Yesss! to A1 Telekom Austria

The Austrian Federal Competition Authority (BWB) and the Federal Cartel Attorney have decided not to contest the decision of the Austrian Cartel Court to approve the acquisition of Orange Austria's discount brand Yesss! by A1 Telekom Austria. The decision was welcomed by Telekom Austria Group CEO Hannes Ametsreiter, who said that it can now proceed with the takeover of Yesss! and other Orange Austria assets without a single condition being imposed. He added that the deal was an important strategic step towa

OOSTENRIJK 13 DEC 2012

EC approves 3 Austria's acquisition of Orange Austria

The European Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of Orange Austria by 3 Austria. The approval is conditional upon the implementation of a commitments package that will facilitate the entry of new players into the Austrian mobile market. The EC had concerns that the elimination of one out of four mobile network operators in Austria could have led to less competition and higher prices, to the detriment of end consumers. To address these concerns, 3 Austria submitted remedies, offering in particul

OOSTENRIJK 10 DEC 2012

BWB to appeal decision to approve Yesss! sale to A1

Austria's Competition Authority (BWB) plans to appeal a decision by the Austrian Cartel Court to approve the sale of Orange Austria's discount unit Yesss! to A1 Telekom Austria, according to a report in Austrian newspaper 'Wirtschaftsblatt'. BWB spokesperson Stefan Keznickl told the paper that it would appeal the decision on the grounds that the ruling was false and insufficient in some parts, adding that the deal would be to the detriment of consumers and would restrict market competition.

OOSTENRIJK 29 NOV 2012

Orange Austria launches 'Advent calendar' promotion

Orange Austria has announced an 'Advent calendar' promotion on its web shop. Between 01 and 24 December, all new and existing customers placing orders online will be entered into a draw to win a selection of prizes each day. Prizes on offer include a Samsung Galaxy Tab Note 10.1, Sony Xperia Tablet S, LG 42-in 3D Smart TV and Xbox 360 Kinect 4GB Carnival. Winners will be notified by phone or e-mail by 15 January 2013 at the latest.

OOSTENRIJK 29 NOV 2012

A1 starts selling Google Nexus 7 3G tablet

A1 Telekom Austria is now accepting online orders for the Google Nexus 7 3G tablet. The device is being offered from free with the A1 Mobile Broadband 4 tariff, which costs EUR 39.90 per month for existing A1 fixed-line internet customers.

OOSTENRIJK 28 NOV 2012

T-Mobile Austria CEO responds to Yesss!, A1 sale decision

T-Mobile Austria has responded to the decision by the Cartel Court to approve the sale of Orange Austria's discount brand Yesss! to A1 Telekom Austria. In a statement, T-Mobile Austria CEO Andreas Bierwirth said that the decision was expected after months of investigation, and that it welcomed this step towards removing the uncertainty that has surrounded the Austrian mobile market for almost 12 months. However, he warned that the regulators had to ensure that the proposed merger of Orange and Austria does

OOSTENRIJK 23 NOV 2012

EU close to approving Orange Austria, Hutchison deal

EU anti-trust regulators will brief national regulators in the week of 26 November about the planned takeover of Orange Austria by Hutchison 3G Austria (3 Austria), reports Reuters. Austrian competition regulator BWB said that it had been invited to a meeting in Brussels on 27 November along with all other EU national regulators. The BWB said it would use the meeting to express its concerns about the deal. The meeting is a sign that the EC has no further concerns about the deal and that approval is imminent

OOSTENRIJK 31 OCT 2012

RTR denies approval of 3 Austria, Orange deal

In response to recent press speculation, Austrian telecoms regulator RTR has issued a statement insisting that it not yet approved the proposed takeover of Orange Austria by Hutchison 3G Austria. The RTR and telecoms control commission are considering the impact of the sale of Yesss! to A1 and related frequency transfers.

OOSTENRIJK 23 OCT 2012

3 Austria offers more concessions to EU officials

Hutchison 3G Austria (3 Austria) has offered more concessions to EU competition officials as it looks to secure approval for the takeover of rival Orange Austria, reports the APA. The homepage of the EU Competition Office indicated that offers had been made, but neither the EU nor the company would disclose any details. As a result of the new offer from 3 Austria, the deadline for the EU decision has been extended by 15 working days from 30 November to 21 December.

OOSTENRIJK 9 OCT 2012

3 Austria, UPC sign MVNO agreement

Hutchison 3G Austria (3 Austria) has signed an MVNO agreement with cable operator UPC Austria. 3 Austria CEO Jan Trionow said the signing of the deal was a great step forwards for both companies and for consumers, as customers will have a wider choice of mobile provider and benefit from increased competition in the Austrian mobile market. The agreement is based on the MVNO remedy offer made to the EU as part of the investigation into 3 Austria's proposed takeover of Orange Austria. The MVNO agreement will o

OOSTENRIJK 29 JUN 2012

EC opens in-depth investigation into Orange, 3 Austria deal

The European Commission (EC) has opened an in-depth investigation into the planned acquisition of Orange Austria by rival Hutchison 3G Austria (3 Austria). The EC's initial market investigation has found that the proposed acquisition may create significant competition problems by removing Orange as a competitor in the retail market for end consumers and on the wholesale market for network access and call origination. As the merger will cut the number of mobile network operators in Austria from four to three

OOSTENRIJK 28 JUN 2012

A1, Yesss! takeover referred for further investigation

Austria's Federal Competition Authority (BWB) has referred the proposed purchase of Orange Austria's discount subsidiary Yesss! by A1 to the Cartel Office for further examination. The BWB said that the companies had failed to alleviate its concerns about the deal, with the authority expressing grave concerns about the impact on the Austrian mobile market and consumers. The BWB said that it regretted that the companies were unwilling to make concessions after four months of talks. The next phase of the inves

OOSTENRIJK 31 MAY 2012

Telekom Austria files Yesss! takeover deal with authorities

Telekom Austria Group has filed the notification for its proposed takeover of Yesss! Telekommunikation with the Austrian Federal Competition Authority. Yesss! is currently owned by Orange Austria and is being sold to Telekom Austria by Hutchison 3G Austria as part of the latter's takeover of Orange Austria. A Phase I decision from the Austrian Federal Competition Authority and the Federal Cartel Attorney is expected by end-June. A potential second phase of the Austrian merger control could last until end-20

Just In

19 DEC 16:42

SLT-Mobitel launches 5G network in Sri Lanka

19 DEC 16:19

Dialog Axiata launches 5G network, connects 1.5 million subscribers

19 DEC 15:56

UK govt to ban AI-enabled nudification apps to protect women, girls

19 DEC 15:42

3 UK launches last-minute Christmas sale

Commentary

13:56

Video market set for slower growth ahead

11:38

Netflix buys Warner Bros to deepen content catalogue

11:11

KPN's mixed performance in Q3 raises questions for strategy day

15:26

Stock markets breaking records but what happened to Odido's IPO plans?

Background

01:04

The week in telecom: Wi-Fi bolt-ons take off to boost broadband growth, video market works on consolidation

01:39

The week in telecom: Netflix wins bidding for Warner Bros, Apple poaches new execs, Samsung debuts trifold

13:51

Proximus vs. Telenet: Proximus performs better in Q3 while Telenet uses up cash

14:16

Proximus Domestic still struggling with low margins

Complete profile

Before downloading the whitepaper, we would like to ask you to complete your profile with company and position. After confirming you will receive the white paper.